WASHINGTON  IN 
LINCOLN'S  TIME 


*  +    * 

NOAH 
BROOKS 


M  HRARV 

OK  Till: 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


I  KT  OK 


<    (P. 

Deceived      J^ZL^  ^^          .  i8o6> 
Accessions  No.  k     .        Oiis*  No. 


WASHINGTON 
IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 


WASHINGTON 
IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 


BY 


NOAH  BROOKS 


AUTHOR  OF   "AMERICAN  STATESMEN"   AND   "ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 
AND  THE  DOWNFALL  OF  AMERICAN  SLAVERY,"   ETC. 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1895 


1,1  Oft  I 


Copyright,  1894,  1895,  by 
THE  CENTURY  Co. 


THE  DEVINNE  PRESS. 


CONTENTS 

* 
CHAPTER  I 

THE   CAPITAL   AS   A   CAMP  PAGE 

LINCOLN'S  GKEETING  TO  AN  OLD  FRIEND  —  MILI 
TARY  HOSPITALS  IN  THE  CITY — THE  COMING  OF 
THE  WOUNDED — FORTIFICATIONS  OF  WASHINGTON 

—  SOME  FAMOUS   CIVILIANS   OF  THE  TIME    ...          1 

CHAPTER  II 

GLIMPSES   OF  LINCOLN  IN  WAR  TIME 
THE   CLOUDY   CLOSE    OF    1862— CHANGE   OF   COM 
MANDERS   OF   THE   ARMY  OF   THE   POTOMAC — THE 
FREDERICKSBURG  DEFEAT  —  A  GLOOMY  NEW  YEAR'S 
DAY  IN  WASHINGTON  —  REVIEWING  HOOKER'S  ARMY 

—  SOCIAL  INCIDENTS  IN  WASHINGTON — LINCOLN'S 
POWERS  OF  MEMORY 39 

CHAPTER  III 

AFTER   THE   BATTLE   OF   GETTYSBURG 
THE   NATIONAL    CAPITAL    UNDER    THE    INFLUENCE 
OF  GOOD  NEWS  —  AFTER  GETTYSBURG — LEE'S  ES 
CAPE  ACROSS  THE  POTOMAC  AT  FALLING  WATERS, 
MARYLAND — LINCOLN'S   DISAPPOINTMENT  81 


Vlll  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV 

LINCOLN,   CHASE,   AND   GRANT  PAGE 

AMONG  THE  LAWMAKERS  —  DIFFICULT  PROGRESS 
OF  WAR  LEGISLATION — LINCOLN,  CHASE,  AND 
THEIR  POLITICAL  FRIENDS  —  THE  RESIGNATION 
OF  SECRETARY  CHASE  —  ENTER  LIEUTENANT-GEN 
ERAL  GRANT 97 

CHAPTER  Y 

TWO  WAR-TIME  CONVENTIONS 
LINCOLN'S     SECOND     NOMINATION — CONTENTION 

OVER  RECONSTRUCTION  PLANS  —  THE  DARK  DAYS 

OF  1864 — MCCLELLAN'S  NOMINATION  AT  CHICAGO 

—  CHASE  ON  THE  SUPREME  BENCH 150 

CHAPTER  VI 

% 

THE   DEATH   OF   SLAVERY 
LAST     CASE     UNDER     THE     FUGITIVE-SLAVE    LAWS 

—  ABOLITION    OF    SLAVERY    IN    THE    DISTRICT    OF 
COLUMBIA — COMPENSATED     EMANCIPATION — PAS 
SAGE  OF   THE  THIRTEENTH   AMENDMENT  —  THRIL 
LING  SCENES  IN  CONGRESS  —  COLORED  PEOPLE  IN 
STREET-CARS        197 

CHAPTER  VII 
LINCOLN'S  REELECTION 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  LINCOLN'S  SECOND  TERM  — 
THE  PRESIDENT'S  SHREWDNESS  AT  HAMPTON  ROADS 
— LINCOLN'S  SECOND  INAUGURATION 216 


CONTENTS  IX 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   CLOSE   OF   LINCOLN^   CAKEEK  PAGE 

CLOSING  SCENES  OF  THE  WAK  DKAMA — THE  GREAT 
TRAGEDY — THE  DOOM  OF  THE  CONSPIRATORS  .  .  242 

CHAPTER  IX 

LIFE  IN  THE  WHITE  HOUSE 
'MID  WAR'S  ALARMS — THE   BOY  OF  THE  WHITE 

HOUSE  —  THE  PEST  OF  PLACE-HUNTERS — LIN 
COLN'S  STORIES — SOME  OF  HIS  LITERARY  TENDEN 
CIES — FONDNESS  FOR  POETRY — HIS  METHODICAL 
HABITS 276 

CHAPTER  X 

THE  LAST   GRAND   REVIEW 

A  STRIKING  AND  MEMORABLE  MILITARY  PAGEANT 
—  THE  FINAL  MARCH  OF  GRANT'S  AND  SHERMAN'S 
ARMIES  THROUGH  THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL  —  SOME 
OF  THE  FEATURES  OF  THE  PARADE — A  NOTE  OF 
PEACE  AT  LAST  307 


INDEX 325 


WASHINGTON 
IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

* 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  CAPITAL  AS  A  CAMP  —  LINCOLN'S  GKEETING  TO 
AN  OLD  FEIEND  —  MILITARY  HOSPITALS  IN  THE 
CITY  —  THE  COMING  OF  THE  WOUNDED  —  FORTIFI 
CATIONS  OF  WASHINGTON  —  SOME  FAMOUS  CIVIL 
IANS  OF  THE  TIME 

1WENT  to  Washington  in  1862  as  correspondent 
of  the  "  Sacramento  Union,"  then  the  great  news 
paper  power  of  the  Pacific  coast.  I  remained  there 
until  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  and  saw 
the  beginning  of  the  stormy  presidential  career  of 
Andrew  Johnson.  During  that  momentous  and 
interesting  period  of  oar  national  history  I  wrote 
newspaper  letters  nearly  every  day;  and  these, 
preserved  in  volumes  of  scrap-books,  with  other 
materials  carefully  kept,  form  the  basis  of  the 
following  reminiscences : 

Several  years  before  the  war,  while  I  was  a  resi 
dent  of  Illinois,  I  had  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  then  regarded  as  a  "  rising  prairie 
lawyer,"  and  living  in  Springfield.  I  had  met  him 
at  political  assemblages,  and  he  had  occasional  busi- 


2  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

ness  errands  to  the  town  of  Dixon,  Lee  County, 
where  I  lived.  We  formed  an  acquaintance  which 
later  grew  into  something  like  intimacy,  although 
it  should  be  said  that  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  have  in 
timate  friends,  unless  we  except  a  very  few  who, 
like  Edward  D.  Baker,  were  among  his  earliest  as 
sociates  and  companions. 

Naturally,  my  first  thought,  on  arriving  in  Wash 
ington  in  1862,  was  to  see  how  far  the  President 
resembled  the  Lincoln  of  Illinois  before  the  war. 
The  change  in  his  personal  appearance  was  marked 
and  sorrowful.  On  the  Sunday  after  my  arrival 
in  Washington  I  took  a  long  look  at  him  from 
the  gallery  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church.  His  eyes  were  almost  deathly  in  their 
gloomy  depths,  and  on  his  visage  was  an  air  of  pro 
found  sadness.  His  face  was  colorless  and  drawn, 
and  newly  grown  whiskers  added  to  the  agedness 
of  his  appearance.  When  I  had  seen  him  last  in 
Illinois,  his  face,  although  always  sallow,  wore  a 
a  tinge  of  rosiness  in  the  cheeks,  but  now  it  was 
pale  and  colorless. 

Hearing  from  a  friend  that  I  was  in  the  city,  he 
immediately  sent  word  that  he  would  like  to  see  me, 
"  for  old  times'  sake  " ;  and  nothing  could  have  been 
more  gratifying  than  the  cordiality  and  bonhomie 
of  his  greeting  when  I  called  at  the  White  House. 
"Do  you  suppose  I  ever  forget  an  old  acquain 
tance  ?  I  reckon  not,"  he  said,  when  we  met. 

Washington  was  then  a  military  camp,  a  city  of 
barracks  and  hospitals.  The  first  thing  that  im 
pressed  the  newly  arrived  stranger,  especially  if  he 
came,  as  I  did,  from  the  shores  of  the  Peaceful  Sea, 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  3 

where  the  waves  of  war  had  not  reached,  was  the 
martial  aspect  of  the  capital.  Long  lines  of  army 
wagons  and  artillery  were  continually  rumbling 
through  the  streets;  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and 
night  the  air  was  troubled  by  the  clatter  of  gallop 
ing  squads  of  cavalry ;  and  the  clank  of  sabers,  and 
the  measured  beat  of  marching  infantry,  were  ever 
present  to  the  ear.  The  city  was  under  military  gov 
ernment,  and  the  wayfarer  was  liable  to  be  halted 
anywhere  in  public  buildings,  or  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  city,  by  an  armed  sentry,  who  curtly  asked, 
"  What  is  your  business  here  I  "  Army  blue  was 
the  predominating  color  on  the  sidewalks,  sprinkled 
here  and  there  with  the  gold  lace  of  officers.  In 
the  galleries  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represen 
tatives,  especially  during  the  cold  weather, — when 
the  well-warmed  Capitol  was  a  convenient  refuge 
for  idle  people, —  great  patches  of  the  light  blue 
of  military  overcoats  were  to  be  marked  among 
more  somber  colors  of  the  groups  of  visitors.  It 
was  contrary  to  army  regulations  to  supply  sol 
diers  with  liquors,  and  in  most  bar-rooms  cards  were 
conspicuous,  bearing  the  legend,  u  Nothing  sold  to 
soldiers."  At  some  of  the  drinking-places,  as  if  to 
soften  the  severity  of  this  dictum,  was  displayed 
an  artistically  painted  group  of  the  three  arms  of 
the  military  service,  over  which  were  printed  the 
words,  u  No  liquors  sold  to." 

Now  and  again,  just  after  some  great  battle  near 
at  hand,  like  that  of  Fredericksburg,  or  Chancellors- 
ville,  or  Grant's  long  struggles  in  the  Wilderness, 
the  capital  afforded  a  most  distressful  spectacle. 
Then,  if  at  no  other  time,  the  home-staying  citi- 


4  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

zen  realized  something  of  the  horrors  of  war.  The 
Washington  hospitals  were  never  empty,  but  at 
such  times  they  were  crowded  with  the  maimed 
and  wounded,  who  arrived  by  hundreds  as  long  as 
the  waves  of  sorrow  came  streaming  back  from  the 
fields  of  slaughter.  One  occasionally  met  a  grim 
procession  of  the  slightly  wounded  coming  up  from 
the  railway  station  at  Alexandria  or  the  steamboat 
landing  from  Aquia  Creek.  They  arrived  in  squads 
of  a  hundred  or  more,  bandaged  and  limping,  rag 
ged  and  disheveled,  blackened  with  smoke  and 
powder,  and  drooping  with  weakness.  They  came 
groping,  hobbling,  and  faltering,  so  faint  and  so 
longing  for  rest  that  one's  heart  bled  at  the  piteous 
sight.  Here  arid  there  were  men  left  to  make  their 
way  as  best  they  could  to  the  hospital,  and  who 
were  leaning  on  the  iron  railings  or  sitting  wearily 
on  the  curbstones;  but  it  was  noticeable  that  all 
maintained  the  genuine  American  pluck  in  the 
midst  of  sorrow  and  suffering.  As  a  rule,  they 
were  silent  and  unmurmuring;  or  if  they  spoke,  it 
was  to  utter  a  grim  joke  at  their  own  expense. 

At  the  height  of  the  war  there  were  twenty-one 
hospitals  in  and  about  Washington.  Some  were 
in  churches,  public  halls,  the  Patent  Office,  and 
other  public  buildings ;  but  many  were  temporary 
wooden  structures  built  for  this  special  purpose. 
One  of  the  representative  hospitals  was  that  of 
Hare  wood,  erected  by  the  government  on  the  pri 
vate  grounds  of  W.  W.  Corcoran,  in  the  outskirts 
of  the  city.  There  was  a  highly  ornamented  barn 
filled  with  hospital  stores,  clothing,  and  sanitary 
goods.  A  long  row  of  cattle-sheds  was  boarded 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  5 

in  and  transformed  into  a  hospital  bakery.  The 
temporary  buildings  constructed  by  the  govern 
ment  were  one  story  high,  arranged  in  the  form 
of  a  hollow  square,  row  within  row,  and  kept  very 
neat  and  clean.  At  most  of  the  hospitals  the  female 
nurses  were  supplied  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Sisters 
of  Charity  and  the  Protestant  Sisters  of  Mercy, 
working  side  by  side. 

At  first  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission 
was  charged  with  the  duty  of  examining  all  nurses, 
male  and  female,  before  they  were  permitted  to  enter 
the  service;  but  later  a  board  of  competent  persons, 
organized  by  Miss  Dorothea  Dix,  was  authorized 
by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  perform  this  highly 
responsible  duty. 

The  Sanitary  Commission,  whose  labors  can  never 
be  overestimated  or  overpraised,  was  supported  by 
money  and  supplies  from  every  loyal  State  in  the 
Union.  It  organized  an  independent  system  of 
transportation,  arid  was  able,  when  a  sudden  emer 
gency  arose  on  a  battle-field,  to  anticipate  the  gov 
ernment  service  by  many  hours  with  medical  stores, 
bandages,  lint,  chloroform,  and  other  requisites  for 
the  suffering  wounded  whose  primary  operations 
were  attended  to  on  the  field.  This  was  one  of  the 
many  ways  in  which  private  enterprise  and  private 
means  supplemented  the  authorities,  whose  ma 
chinery  was  inadequate  to  the  sudden  needs  of  war. 
In  the  memorable  week  after  the  battle  of  Antie- 
tam,  twenty  thousand  dollars  of  the  gold  of  Cali 
fornia  were  thus  expended  for  the  relief  of  the  men 
who  suffered  by  the  casualties  of  war. 

In  Washington  we  always  looked  for  the  regu- 


0  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

lar  and  inevitable  flood  of  strangers  that  poured 
into  the  city  from  the  North  after  any  great  battle 
fought  in  the  fields  of  Virginia.  This  was  one  of 
the  fixed  features  of  the  strange  life  of  the  national 
capital.  These  people  came  in  quest  of  friends 
who  had  been  taken  to  the  hospitals,  or  perhaps 
left  dead  on  the  field.  It  was  easy  to  recognize 
them  by  their  anxious  and  distressed  faces,  their 
strangeness  in  the  city,  and  their  inquiries  for  hos 
pitals  or  the  shortest  routes  to  scenes  made  cele 
brated  by  some  life-destroying  fight.  Occasionally 
a  detail  of  clerks  was  made  from  some  one  of  the 
executive  departments  of  the  government  for  the 
first  aid  to  the  wounded  on  battle-fields  not  too  far 
from  Washington.  These  hospital  stewards  were 
volunteers,  sent  to  the  front  for  fifteen  days  each, 
to  get  their  first  military  experience  of  army  dis 
cipline  and  regulations. 

Convalescents  who  had  been  discharged  from 
the  hospitals  and  who  were  not  fit  for  military  duty 
were  assembled  at  a  rendezvous  in  Alexandria, 
known  as  Camp  Convalescent.  This  camp  eventu 
ally  became  so  crowded  with  the  vast  numbers  of 
those  who  had  been  discharged  from  the  hospitals 
or  were  stragglers  from  the  army,  that  its  con 
dition  was  properly  characterized  as  "  infamous." 
More  than  ten  thousand  men,  some  of  whom  in 
the  depth  of  winter  were  obliged  to  sleep  on  the 
cold  ground,  under  canvas  shelter  and  without  fire 
or  suitable  covering,  were  massed  together  there, 
in  the  company  of  healthy  reprobates  who  were 
"  bummers,"  deserters,  and  stragglers — the  riffraff 
of  the  Federal  and  Confederate  armies.  There 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  7 

were  two  of  these  curious  improvised  institutions 
— Camp  Convalescent  and  Camp  Straggle — both 
of  which  were  crammed  full. 

One  of  the  most  unique  hospitals  in  Washington 
was  that  organized  in  the  museum  of  the  Patent 
Office.  Each  alcove  was  a  well  ventilated  and 
lighted  ward.  The  tesselated  marble  floors  were 
covered  here  and  there  with  clean  matting,  and  the 
general  aspect  of  the  place  was  pure  and  neat. 
The  President  and  Mrs.  Lincoln,  accompanied  by 
Mrs.  Doubleday  (wife  of  General  Abner  Doubleday) 
and  myself,  were  once  visiting  the  Patent  Office 
hospital,  and  the  two  ladies,  being  a  little  in  ad 
vance,  left  us  lingering  by  the  cot  of  a  wounded 
soldier.  Just  beyond  us  passed  a  well-dressed  lady, 
evidently  a  stranger,  who  was  distributing  tracts. 
After  she  had  gone,  a  patient  picked  up  with 
languid  hand  the  leaflet  dropped  upon  his  cot,  and, 
glancing  at  the  title,  began  to  laugh.  When  we 
reached  him,  the  President  said :  "  My  good  fellow, 
that  lady  doubtless  means  you  well,  and  it  is  hardly 
fair  for  you  to  laugh  at  her  gift." 

"Well,  Mr.  President,"  said  the  soldier,  who 
recognized  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  how  can  I  help  laughing 
a  little  ?  She  has  given  me  a  tract  on  the  l  Sin  of 
Dancing,'  and  both  of  my  legs  are  shot  off." 

President  Lincoln,  who  loved  to  hear  stories  of 
the  soldiers  and  their  humorous  pranks,  told  me  of 
a  soldier  who  was  being  carried  to  the  rear  in  a 
severe  engagement,  seriously  wounded,  and  likely  to 
die.  He  espied  a  sutler  woman  with  leathery-look 
ing  pies,  driving  her  trade  on  "  the  dubious  verge  of 
battle  fought."  The  bleeding  soldier  grinned  at  the 


8  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN^    TIME 

woman,  and  said:  "Say,  old  lady,  are  those  pies 
sewed  or  pegged!" 

The  Washington  of  the  war  was  a  very  differ 
ent  city  from  the  present  stately  capital.  Before 
the  war  the  city  was  as  drowsy  and  as  grass-grown 
as  any  old  New  England  town.  Squalid  negro 
quarters  hung  on  the  flanks  of  fine  old  mansions, 
and  although  in  the  centers  of  this  "  city  of  mag 
nificent  distances"  there  were  handsome  public 
buildings,  with  here  and  there  a  statue  or  some 
other  work  of  art,  the  general  aspect  of  things  was 
truly  rural.  The  war  changed  all  that  in  a  very 
few  weeks.  Temporary  hospitals  and  other  rude 
shelters  arose  as  if  by  magic  on  every  hand.  The 
streets  were  crowded  by  night  and  day,  and  the 
continual  passage  of  heavily  loaded  quartermas 
ters7  trains,  artillery,  and  vehicles  of  kinds  before 
unknown  in  Washington,  churned  the  unpaved 
streets  into  muddy  thoroughfares  in  winter,  or  cut 
them  deep  with  impalpable  dust  in  summer.  It 
was  a  favorite  joke  of  Washingtonians  that  "  real 
estate  was  high  in  dry  weather,  as  it  was  for  the 
most  part  all  in  the  air." 

Over  the  flats  of  the  Potomac  rose  the  then  unfin 
ished  white  obelisk  of  the  Washington  monument, 
a  truncated  cone ;  and  in  the  weather-beaten  sheds 
around  its  base  were  stored  the  carved  and  orna 
mented  blocks  that  had  been  contributed  to  the 
structure  by  foreign  governments,  princes,  poten 
tates,  and  political  and  social  organizations.  On  its 
hill  rose  the  unfinished  dome  of  the  Capitol,  whose 
bare  ribs  were  darkly  limned  against  the  sky.  It 
was  a  feeling  of  pride,  or  perhaps  of  some  tenderer 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN^    TIME  9 

sentiment,  that  induced  the  government  to  insist 
that  work  on  the  Capitol  should  go  on  in  the  midst 
of  the  stress  and  strain  of  civil  war,  just  as  though 
nothing  had  happened  to  hinder  the  progress  of 
the  magnificent  undertaking.  It  is  no  metaphor 
to  say  that  the  sound  of  the  workman's  hammer 
never  ceased  on  that  building,  even  in  the  dark 
times  when  it  was  not  certain  that  "  Washington 
was  safe."  The  completion  of  the  pediments  of 
the  House  and  Senate  wings  went  on  without  de 
lay  during  all  these  perilous  times.  The  colossal 
statue  of  Freedom  which  now  adorns  the  apex  of 
the  central  dome  (designed  by  Crawford  and  cast 
in  bronze  by  Clark  Mills)  was  at  first  set  up  on  a 
temporary  base  in  the  Capitol  grounds,  where  it 
was  an  object  of  curiosity  and  interest  to  visitors. 

When  the  bronze  doors  of  the  Capitol  arrived,  it 
was  suggested  by  a  Congressional  humorist — S.  S. 
Cox— that  they  be  strapped  on  the  back  of  the 
Genius  of  Freedom,  and  the  combination  be  known 
as  a  representation  of  a- female  Samson  carrying  off 
the  gates  of  Gaza,  which,  he  said,  "  would  be  scrip 
tural,  if  not  classic,"  and  would  dispose  of  two 
monumental  works  for  which,  apparently,  no  im 
mediate  use  was  possible. 

As  a  matter  of  record,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
effigy  of  Freedom  was  finally  put  in  its  present 
place  on  the  top  of  the  lantern  of  the  dome  of  the 
Capitol  on  December  2, 1863.  The  statue  was  con 
structed  in  sections,  and  the  head  and  shoulders 
of  the  bronze  figure  in  one  section  were  drawn 
upward  from  the  foot  of  the  dome  by  a  wire  cable 
running  through  a  lofty  pulley  ;  then,  being  swung 


10  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN^    TIME 

lightly  over  tlie  gleaming  torso,  it  was  settled  into 
place,  a  few  strokes  of  a  hammer  rang  out  on 
the  air,  and  the  thing  was  done.  Then  a  star- 
spangled  banner  was  hoisted  to  the  top  of  a  flag 
staff  that  rose  above  the  statue,  and  one  hundred 
guns,  fired  from  the  East  Park,  near  the  Capitol, 
saluted  the  end  of  the  work.  The  Capitol  was 
finished.  Thereupon  an  unbleached  son  of  free 
dom  sprang  out  from  the  crowd  below  and  shouted, 
"Three  cheers  for  the  Goddess  of  Liberty!"  which 
were  given  with  a  hearty  good  will.  The  function 
was  simple  enough;  but  the  completion  of  the 
building  which  was  begun  in  the  time  of  Daniel 
Webster  was  a  significant  event  in  the  history  of 
the  republic.  Of  course  artists  and  artisans  con 
tinued  to  labor  on  the  Capitol  during  the  war,  and 
long  afterward ;  but  the  figure  of  Liberty,  designed 
and  ordered  during  the  administration  of  Jefferson 
Davis  in  the  War  Department,  was  placed  in  posi 
tion  on  the  apex  of  the  national  Capitol  while 
Davis  was  in  arms  against  his  government;  and 
the  sound  of  ax  and  hammer  did  not  cease  while 
the  conflict  lasted. 

This  was  in  the  third  year  of  the  war,  when 
the  Confederate  flag  could  no  longer  be  seen  waving 
from  the  Virginia  heights  across  the  Potomac ;  but 
for  months  before  this  the  flag  of  the  Union  float 
ing  over  the  Capitol  had  been  challenged  by  the 
stars  and  bars  still  visible  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river.  And  later  in  the  war,  when  Early  came  dash 
ing  up  to  our  gates,  we  saw  for  a  brief  season  the 
same  defiant  colors. 

The  line  of  circumvallation  about  Washington 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  11 

was  eventually  made  very  strong.  Within  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia  there  were  about  forty  forts,  mak 
ing  a  complete  circle  around  the  capital,  their  guns 
being  trained  to  sweep  every  road  or  possible  route 
leading  into  the  city.  Rifle-pits  were  cut  from  point 
to  point,  making  a  continuous  line  of  defense.  If 
the  wayfarer  or  visitor  desired  a  view  of  something 
of  real  war,  other  than  that  which  might  be  had  in 
the  painful  glimpses  of  dying  and  wounded  brought 
from  battle-fields,  or  of  the  grim  lines  of  artillery 
and  troops  marching  through  Washington,  a  mili 
tary  pass,  secured  after  many  difficulties,  would  en 
able  him  to  inspect  the  frowning  line  of  fortifica 
tions  that  inclosed  Washington  as  with  a  wall. 

It  is  impossible  in  these  days,  so  remote  from  the 
excitements  of  the  Civil  War,  to  give  readers  of 
this  later  generation  any  adequate  idea  of  the 
uneasiness  that  pervaded  Washington,  or  of  the 
morbid  sensationalism  which  characterized  the  con 
versation  and  conduct  of  the  loyalists  who  were 
constantly  haunted  by  suspicions  of  secret  plotting 
all  about  them.  One  evening,  while  I  was  sitting 
with  the  President  in  his  cabinet,  Professor  Henry, 
then  in  charge  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  came 
in  for  a  social  chat  with  the  President.  The  con 
versation  ran  upon  various  unimportant  themes, 
and  presently  a  card  was  brought  in  by  the  door 
keeper,  who  said  that  the  man  in  waiting  was  ex 
tremely  urgent  to  see  the  President,  as  he  had 
matters  of  pressing  importance  to  communicate. 
He  was  brought  into  the  room,  and  proved  to  be  a 
modest  shopkeeper  whose  home  was  not  far  from 
the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Glancing  uneasily  at 


12  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

the  President's  two  visitors,  whom  he  evidently  did 
not  know,  he  said  his  business  was  very  important 
and  should  be  kept  secret.  The  President  assured 
him  that  Professor  Henry  and  myself  were  to  be 
trusted  with  any  business  of  state,  however  secret 
it  might  be;  and  he  genially  encouraged  his  visitor 
to  speak  out  without  fear  of  being  betrayed  in  case 
the  weighty  matter  which  he  carried  in  his  mind 
was  of  an  explosive  character.  The  man  then  went 
on  to  say  that  he  had  frequently  observed  lights 
shown  from  one  of  the  towers  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  late  at  night.  He  had  noticed  that  these 
lights  invariably  made  their  appearance  about  the 
same  time  (at  midnight),  and  he  was  confident  that 
the  person  displaying  them  was  carrying  on  a  con 
traband  correspondence  with  the  rebels  by  means 
of  signals.  The  President,  with  great  gravity, 
closely  examined  the  witness,  but  elicited  nothing 
more  from  him  than  the  fact  that  the  lights  were 
actually  shown. 

The  President  said,  "  Do  you  suspect  anybody  in 
the  Smithsonian  Institution?" 

"  No,"  replied  the  witness,  "  I  do  not  know  any 
body  inside  of  that  institution.  But  I  have  heard 
that  Professor  Henry  is  a  Southern  man  and  a  rebel 
sympathizer." 

With  that  the  President  turned  to  Professor 
Henry,  and,  with  admirable  command  of  counte 
nance,  said,  "  This  is  Professor  Henry  ;  perhaps  he 
will  be  able  to  answer  for  himself."  The  look  of 
dismay  on  the  countenance  of  the  visiting  witness 
was  so  comic  that  the  President  could  not  re 
strain  his  laughter.  Professor  Henry,  who  was 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  13 

somewhat  disturbed  by  this  expression  of  suspicion 
on  the  part  of  the  well-meaning  but  mistaken  Union 
ist,  very  briefly  disposed  of  his  tale.  He  explained 
that  the  scientific  instruments  used  to  ascertain  the 
direction  and  force  of  the  wind,  temperature,  etc., 
were  examined  at  certain  hours  of  the  day  and 
night  for  the  purpose  of  taking  their  record,  and 
that  the  supposed  signal-light  in  the  Smithsonian 
tower  was  the  lantern  carried  to  the  observatory  at 
midnight  by  the  attendant  who  made  those  obser 
vations.  Somewhat  crestfallen,  the  visitor  with 
drew,  the  President  thanking  him  for  his  vigilance 
and  well-meant  promptness  in  reporting  this  inci 
dent,  and  adding,  as  the  man  departed,  "  If  you 
should  see  any  indications  of  a  rebel  conspiracy  in 
Washington,  you  will  do  the  country  real  service  by 
reporting  at  once  to  headquarters." 

The  frequent  appearance  in  Washington  of  pa 
roled  rebel  officers,  who  usually  wore  their  own 
uniform  with  evident  pride  and  pleasure,  and  some 
times  with  a  swagger,  generally  threw  loyalists  into 
a  fever  of  excitement.  More  than  once  I  saw  ultra- 
loyal  newsboys  or  boot-blacks  throw  a  lump  of  mud, 
or  a  brickbat,  at  the  passing  Confederate.  One  of 
these  officers,  a  Lieutenant  Garnett,  being  on  pa 
role,  sent  in  his  card  to  Representative  Wickliffe, 
of  Kentucky,  and  was  by  him  introduced  upon  the 
floor  of  the  House,  where  he  attracted  attention,  as 
well  as  indignation,  from  the  members  present.  Pres 
ently  a  wave  of  excitement  seemed  to  sweep  over 
the  galleries,  the  spectators  being  visibly  affected 
by  the  appearance  of  an  officer  in  full  Confederate 
uniform  sitting  on  one  of  the  sofas  of  the  House  of 


14  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

Representatives.  This  was  intensified  when  a  door 
keeper  spoke  to  the  visitor,  who  rose  from  his  seat, 
gave  a  profound  and  sweeping  bow,  and  withdrew 
to  the  outer  corridor.  It  appeared  that  the  door 
keeper  had  told  the  Confederate  that  it  was  con 
trary  to  the  rules  of  the  House  for  him  to  be  present. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  side  incidents  of  the 
war  during  the  winter  of  1862-63,  in  Washington, 
was  the  court-martial  that  tried  General  F it z- John 
Porter  for  alleged  disobedience  of  orders.  Another 
interesting  and  attractive  military  tribunal  was  that 
convoked  at  the  request  of  General  McDowell  to 
inquire  into  the  conduct  of  that  officer  after  General 
McClellaii  assumed  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  The  mean  little  room  in  which  the  court 
of  inquiry  was  held  was  usually  crowded  whenever 
any  prominent  general  officer  was  summoned  before 
it.  About  the  middle  of  December,  1862,  General 
McClellan,  who  not  long  before  had  been  relieved 
from  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  was  a 
"  star  witness  "  before  the  court.  There  was  a  great 
rush  of  sightseers,  anxious  to  see  "  Little  Mac,"  to 
hear  his  voice,  and  to  feel  the  magnetism  of  his 
presence.  So  great  was  the  crowd  of  visitors  that 
the  single  orderly  who  kept  the  door  was  at  his  wit's 
end  to  provide  a  channel  of  ingress  for  the  ex-com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  When 
he  finally  arrived,  McClellan,  who  wore  an  undress 
uniform  and  a  short  military  cloak,  slipped  in 
through  the  crowd  without  attracting  much  atten 
tion,  and  great  was  the  disappointment  of  the  mob 
at  the  door  to  find  that  they  had  missed  seeing 
him.  General  McClellan  was  rather  dapper,  trimly 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  15 

built,  with  round,  full  outlines  of  face  and  figure, 
light  hair  and  mustache,  and  an  easy  and  gra 
cious  manner.  He  answered  the  questions  put  to 
him  in  a  quick,  clear,  low  voice,  keeping  his  light- 
gray  eyes  intently  fixed  upon  the  questioner ;  and 
his  mouth  almost  constantly  wore  a  pleasant  and 
winning  smile.  Every  one  in  the  crowded  and  un 
comfortable  court-room  seemed  to  feel  the  attrac 
tiveness  of  his  face  and  manner,  and  it  was  curious 
to  note  the  admiring,  half-loving,  half-pitying  ex 
pression  which  moved  over  the  unconscious  coun 
tenances  of  the  intently  gazing  spectators  as  they 
bent  forward  to  catch  the  slightest  look  and  into 
nation  of  the  ex-commander.  The  progress  of  busi 
ness  in  the  McDowell  court  of  inquiry  was  tediously 
slow.  McDowell  wrote  each  of  his  questions  on  a 
slip  of  paper.  The  clerk  took  it  from  him,  and  read 
it  to  the  witness,  who  answered  it ;  then  the  clerk 
wrote  down  the  answer,  and  question  and  answer 
were  wafered  on  a  sheet.  McDowell,  who  sat  op 
posite  McClellan,  had  a  full  face,  a  commanding 
military  figure,  and  certainly  was  "  the  General," 
so  far  as  looks  were  concerned,  compared  with 
McClellan.  McDowell's  manner  was  dignified,  de 
cisive,  and  at  times  almost  solemn. 

Just  before  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  I  visited 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  its  headquarters  being 
then  at  Falmouth,  in  President  Lincoln's  company. 
We  were  detained  on  the  way  by  a  storm,  and  spent 
one  night  on  board  the  steamer  anchored  in  the 
Potomac.  In  the  course  of  conversation  that  even 
ing,  the  President  was  communicative  and  in  a  con 
fidential  mood,  and  discussed  the  military  situation 


16  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

with  much  freedom.  Speaking  of  McClellan,  he 
said,  "I  kept  McClellan  in  command  after  I  had 
expected  that  he  would  win  victories,  simply  be 
cause  I  knew  that  his  dismissal  would  provoke 
popular  indignation  and  shake  the  faith  of  the 
people  in  the  final  success  of  the  war."  Very  soon 
after  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  and  before  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg  was  fought,  the  old  rumor  of 
McClellan's  recall  once  more  got  upon  its  legs,  to  the 
great  consternation  of  many  of  Lincoln's  friends 
in  Washington.  This  report  was  more  than  usu 
ally  vigorous  and  plausible.  Hooker's  failure  at 
Chancellorsville,  and  the  blow  which  his  military 
prestige  had  suffered  in  consequence,  gave  public 
opinion  a  decidedly  sharp  fillip.  One  evening, 
while  this  rumor  was  gaining  strength,  I  chanced 
to  be  in  the  family  sitting-room  at  the  White  House, 
where  the  President,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  and  several  call 
ers  were  assembled,  when  an  indiscreet  young  lady 
directly  attacked  Lincoln  with  the  extraordinary 
question:  "Mr.  President,  is  McClellan  going  to  be 
recalled  to  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac  ? "  The  President  good-naturedly  parried 
this  home-thrust,  but  gave  no  satisfactory  answer. 
Afterward  joining  in  the  conversation,  I  intimated 
to  the  President  that  as  he  had  not  settled  the  mat 
ter,  there  probably  might  be  some  ground  for  the 
general  suspicion  that  McClellan  would  be  recalled. 
Lincoln,  who  sat  near  me,  assumed  a  very  severe 
look,  and  turning,  said  in  an  undertone,  "And  you, 
too  ?  "  I  instantly  recalled  our  conversation  on  the 
steamer,  and  apologized  for  my  lack  of  faith.  He 
then  added,  "  I  see  you  remember  the  talk  we  had 
on  the  Carrie  Martin." 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  17 

It  is  curious  to  note  how  the  names  of  many  of 
the  men  who  were  prominent  in  the  political  his 
tory  of  the  Civil  War  have  now  well  nigh  vanished 
from  the  minds  of  our  people.  Thaddeus  Stevens, 
of  Pennsylvania,  at  his  post  of  chairman  of  the 
House  "Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  was  for  a 
long  time  the  leader  of  the  House,  and  the  most 
conspicuous  figure  of  the  Republican  party  in  that 
branch  of  Congress.  He  was  the  oldest  and  the 
ablest  man  in  congressional  life.  He  was  sturdy, 
well  built,  with  dark-blue  and  dull-looking  eyes, 
overhanging  brow,  thin,  stern  lips,  a  smooth-shaven 
face,  and  he  wore  a  dark-brown  wig.  He  walked  with 
a  limp,  one  of  his  feet  being  deformed.  "  Thad  " 
Stevens  was  never  tender-hearted,  winning,  or  con 
ciliatory.  He  was  argumentative,  sardonic,  and 
grim.  When  he  rose  to  speak,  it  was  his  usual 
custom  to  lock  his  hands  loosely  before  him,  mak 
ing  but  few  gestures.  He  spoke  with  great  calm 
ness  and  deliberation,  dropping  his  sentences  as 
though  each  one  weighed  a  ton ;  his  voice  was  low, 
but  distinct,  and  he  launched  his  anathemas  at  his 
opponents  as  coolly  as  if  he  were  bandying  compli 
ments.  While  he  wore  "the  very  front  of  Jove 
himself,"  he  had  a  certain  repose  of  manner  that 
was  particularly  exasperating  to  his  adversaries. 
Nor  did  he  spare  his  own  political  associates  if  they 
happened  to  differ  with  him.  On  one  occasion,  a 
New  York  representative,  who  had  a  curious  way 
of  dividing  himself  on  each  side  of  nearly  every 
question,  irritated  Mr.  Stevens  by  his  perverse  con 
duct,  and  was  thus  rebuked  by  the  old  leader:  "  The 
gentleman  from  New  York  has  more  privileges  here 

2 


18  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

than  belong  to  him.  He  has  the  advantage  of  being 
able  to  pair  off  with  himself  on  every  question." 
On  another  occasion,  Mr.  Stevens,  being  tempora 
rily  in  the  seat  of  Vallandigharn,  heard  a  Repub 
lican  member  make  an  appeal  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  Eising  with  grim  humor  in 
the  place  of  the  distinguished  Copperhead  from 
Ohio,  Stevens  said:  "  How  dare  you,  sir,  mention  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  in  this  House  ? " 

Henry  Winter  Davis  was  another  eloquent  and 
able  man,  but,  except  for  his  record  as  a  persistent 
and  violent  critic  of  Lincoln's  reconstruction  pol 
icy,  he  has  not  left  any  lasting  trace  of  his  pub 
lic  career.  At  that  time  he  was  about  forty-five 
years  of  age,  light  in  complexion,  with  a  round, 
boyish  head,  sandy  hair  and  mustache.  He  had  a 
high,  clear,  ringing  voice,  and  a  manner  of  speak 
ing  which  was  peculiar  in  its  sharpness  and  firm 
ness.  He  was  a  brilliant  speaker,  but  not  a  ready 
debater ;  and  he  had  a  compact  and  direct  way  of 
putting  things  which  always  commanded  close  at 
tention  whenever  he  spoke.  Garfield  once  said  of 
him  that  his  eloquence  was  "clear  and  cold,  like 
starlight."  In  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress  Davis 
gave  the  casting  vote  which  dissolved  a  tie,  and 
elected  Pennington,  of  New  Jersey,  Republican 
Speaker  of  the  House. 

Clement  L.  Vallandigham  of  Ohio  was  the  lead 
ing  spirit  in  the  mischievous  Peace  faction  on  the 
Democratic  side  of  the  House.  He  was  well  built, 
and  was  then  about  forty  years  of  age,  with  a 
small  head,  regular  and  somewhat  delicate  features, 
and  dark  hair  slightly  sprinkled  with  gray.  His 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  19 

complexion  was  fresh  and  fair,  and  his  manner 
was  agreeable  and  prepossessing.  He  dressed  with 
great  neatness,  and,  as  he  sat  at  his  desk,  turning 
over  his  papers,  occasionally  smiling  at  the  petty 
discussions  raised  by  Holman,  the  small  jokes  of 
Cox,  or  the  grumblings  of  Wickliffe  of  Kentucky, 
he  was  altogether  a  personable  man.  He  was  a 
good  speaker — smooth,  plausible,  and  polished; 
and  in  private  life  he  was  a  most  agreeable  and 
delightful  talker.  I  think  of  him  now,  with  real 
regret  (notwithstanding  his  political  record),  as  a 
genial  and  pleasant  companion,  a  steadfast  friend, 
and  a  man  well  versed  in  literature,  history,  and 
politics;  he  died  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood. 
When  he  made  a  set  speech  he  often  became 
greatly  excited,  his  face  wore  an  expression  at 
times  almost  repulsive,  and  his  voice  rose  with  a 
wild  shriek ;  his  hands  fluttered  convulsively  in  the 
air,  and  the  manner  of  the  man  underwent  a 
physical  transformation.  His  power  over  his  party 
in  the  House  was  complete  when  "filibustering" 
tactics  were  going  on.  At  a  word  from  him,  or  a 
wave  of  his  hand,  the  Peace  Democrats  would  in 
continently  scud  into  the  lobbies  or  cloakrooms; 
or  his  signal  would  bring  them  all  back  when  they 
were  needed  in  their  seats. 

Fernando  Wood  succeeded  to  the  leadership  of 
the  Peace  Democrats  in  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress, 
Vallandigham  not  having  been  returned  to  the 
House.  A  more  marked  contrast  between  two  men 
can  hardly  be  imagined.  Wood  was  always  calm, 
cool,  and  collected.  His  hair  and  mustache  were 
dyed  black,  and  his  thin,  spare  face,  elegant  man- 


20  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN^   TIME 

ners,  and  precise  method  of  speech,  gave  him  the 
appearance  of  a  refined  and  scholarly  man.  He 
never  lost  his  temper,  was  always  agreeable,  polite, 
and  even  courtly.  He  did  not  like  Vallandigham, 
and  on  more  than  one  occasion  he  held  long  con 
versations  with  President  Lincoln  in  regard  to  the 
then  notorious  Ohio  Copperhead.  He  was  especially 
anxious  that  the  President  should  not  make  a 
martyr  of  Vallandigham,  of  whom  he  expressed  a 
most  contemptuous  opinion,  and  of  whom  he  said 
that,  if  he  were  let  alone,  he  would  speedily  sink 
out  of  sight. 

Another  conspicuous  representative  was  James 
A.  Grarfield,  who  came  into  the  House  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  first  session  of  the  Thirty-eighth 
Congress.  He  had  been  chief-of-staff  to  General 
Rosecrans,  and  the  day  before  he  was  sworn  in, 
when  he  was  introduced  to  his  future  associates, 
he  wore  a  brigadier-general's  uniform.  The  next 
day  he  appeared  in  citizen's  garb,  and  took  his  seat 
in  the  House.  His  disposition  to  literary  and 
bookish  allusions  is  well  known.  Once  in  a  while 
his  colleague,  Samuel  S.  Cox  (who  then  also  repre 
sented  an  Ohio  district),  would  rally  Garfield  on 
his  pedantry,  or  sarcastically  allude  to  him  as  "  the 
learned  gentleman  from  Ohio."  Garfield's  manner 
was  rather  boyish,  even  when  in  public  view.  He 
would  sometimes  wind  his  arm  round  the  waist  of 
one  of  his  associates  in  the  House,  and  walk  him 
up  and  down  in  the  space  behind  the  seats  of  the 
members,  apparently  oblivious  to  the  fact  that 
hundreds  of  people  were  regarding  him  with 
amusement. 


WASHINGTON    IN   LINCOLN^    TIME  21 

Schuyler  Colt'ax  was  a  prime  favorite  with  the 
members  of  the  House,  and  with  the  newspaper 
men.  He  had  a  youthful  face  and  manner,  and 
was  somewhat  under  the  medium  height.  Colfax 
was  versatile,  indefatigably  industrious,  and  was 
one  of  the  readiest  debaters  on  the  Union  side.  He 
was  light-haired  and  blue-eyed,  and  usually  wore 
an  expression  so  engaging  and  genial  that  unpleas 
ant  people  sometimes  called  him  "  Smiler"  Colfax. 
Before  he  was  elected  Speaker,  he  was  chairman  of 
the  House  Committee  on  Post-Offices,  and  in  that 
place  he  exercised  a  great  influence  in  the  readjust 
ment  of  the  mail  service  of  the  country  after  the 
secession  of  the  Southern  States.  It  is  impossible 
for  any  one  who  knew  Colfax  intimately  to  recall 
his  long  and  prosperous  career  as  a  public  man 
without  a  pang  of  regret.  As  I  have  said,  he  was  a 
general  favorite,  and  his  affability,  his  readiness  to 
do  a  good  turn  for  friend  and  foe  alike,  his  skill 
and  ability  in  parliamentary  usages,  commended 
him  to  the  admiration  and  esteem  of  thousands  of 
people.  In  an  evil  hour  for  him,  his  reputation 
was  clouded,  and  his  personality  disappeared  from 
public  life.  His  manner  as  a  presiding  officer  left 
something  to  be  desired.  He  was  too  rapid  to  be 
dignified,  and  his  devotion  to  the  public  business 
often  betrayed  him  into  neglect  of  the  proprieties. 
Ben  Perley  Poore,  the  cynical  observer  of  Congress, 
said  that  Colfax  presided  over  the  House  "  like  an 
auctioneer" ;  and  it  was  a  cause  of  mortification  to 
some  that  when  the  President's  private  secretary 
appeared  at  the  door  of  the  House  with  a  message, 
he  was  invariably  addressed  by  the  Speaker  as 


22  WASHINGTON    IN   LINCOLN'S    TIME 

"  Mr.  Sekkertary."  Golf  ax  was  greatly  beloved  by 
his  constituents,  and  was  frequently  honored  with 
complimentary  testimonials  of  his  popularity.  He 
was  entertained  at  a  banquet  by  the  newspaper 
correspondents  in  Washington  on  his  election  to 
the  Speakership,  and,  at  another  time,  a  hand 
some  service  of  silver  was  presented  to  him  by  his 
Indiana  friends  in  Washington. 

No  sketch  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  of 
those  days  would  be  complete  without  a  note  con 
cerning  Thaddeus  Morris,  the  Speaker's  special 
page.  When  Mr.  Orr,  of  South  Carolina,  was 
Speaker,  he  discovered  in  this  young  man,  then  a 
mere  boy,  a  remarkable  knowledge  of  parliamen 
tary  law  combined  with  an  extraordinary  memory 
for  names  and  dates.  Orr  at  once  attached  Morris 
to  the  Speaker's  chair,  where  he  kept  his  place  un 
til  his  death  in  March,  1864.  Probably  few  strangers 
ever  noticed  the  tall,  slim  young  man  who  leaned 
negligently  on  a  corner  of  the  Speaker's  marble 
desk,  apparently  but  slightly  interested  in  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  house,  but  really  regarding  all 
that  passed  with  the  most  watchful  vigilance.  The 
youngster  kept  track  of  the  mazy  confusion  of 
business,  and  could  disentangle  for  the  sometimes 
bewildered  Speaker  the  most  labyrinthine  compli 
cation.  Whenever  a  knotty  question  of  parlia 
mentary  law  or  precedence  arose,  Morris  would 
solve  the  difficulty  with  amazing  facility.  While 
the  Speaker  was  addressing  the  House  in  a  per 
functory  way,  stating  the  question  at  issue  in  order 
to  consume  the  time  needed  by  Morris  to  gather 
his  authorities,  the  young  man  would  silently  place 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  23 

before  the  Speaker  reference-book  after  reference- 
book,  with  chapter  and  verse  duly  marked,  perhaps 
taken  from  the  records  of  the  earliest  years  of  the 
government,  and  collated  for  use  as  precedents  in 
just  such  a  case  as  that  under  consideration.  The 
mute  prompter's  hand  was  the  compass  that  en 
abled  the  tempest-tossed  Speaker  to  steer  clear  of 
rocks  and  shoals  on  which  he  might  have  wrecked 
his  reputation  as  a  presiding  officer.  Morris's  death 
was  a  real  loss  to  the  house,  but  possibly  some  of 
the  hair-splitting  debaters  who  had  failed  to  trip 
the  Speaker  when  they  "  rose  to  a  question  of  or 
der"  did  not  regard  with  immitigable  grief  the 
place  left  vacant  at  the  corner  of  the  Speaker's 
desk. 

In  the  Senate,  of  course,  were  many  men  whose 
names  are  as  intimately  connected  with  the  history 
of  those  times  as  any  in  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives.  On  the  Republican  side,  Henry  Wilson,  of 
Massachusetts,  was  conspicuous  as  the  chairman  of 
the  Senate  Military  Committee.  He  was  stout, 
florid,  dark-haired,  and  of  a  portly  figure.  In  man 
ner  he  was  entirely  unlike  his  colleague,  Mr.  Sum- 
ner.  Wilson  was  rather  loose  and  ramshackle  in 
his  manner  of  speech ;  his  enunciation  was  not  dis 
tinct,  his  delivery  was  slipshod,  and  he  was  neither 
precise  nor  fortunate  in  his  choice  of  words  to  ex 
press  ideas.  He  impressed  one  as  a  man  of  great 
mental  force  not  well  schooled.  Sumner,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  a  model  of  forensic  elegance, 
scholarly  culture,  and  precision.  His  manner  of 
statement  was  emphatic,  even  oracular.  Some  of 
his  unfriendly  critics  said  he  was  dogmatic;  and 


24  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

he  spoke  with  a  certain  fastidiousness  in  the  choice 
of  language  which  provoked  injurious  comments. 
Speaking  to  me  of  these  comments,  which  had 
reached  his  ears,  Sumner  once  said  that  when  he 
addressed  the  Senate,  even  on  matters  of  mere 
routine,  he  thought  he  ought  to  be  as  accurate  and 
as  fastidious  as  if  he  were  engaged  in  high  debate ; 
and  he  cited  an  anecdote  of  Daniel  Webster,  who, 
when  asked  concerning  his  custom  of  wearing  his 
best  and  most  elaborate  dress  on  the  public  plat 
form,  reproachfully  asked  his  interlocutor  if  he 
should  not  present  his  best  thoughts,  his  best  man 
ner,  his  best  garb,  when  he  addressed  his  fellow- 
men. 

Wilson  was  always  genial,  conciliatory;  Sumner's 
bearing  was  apt  to  be  dictatorial  and  unduly  impres 
sive,  even  on  occasions  of  slight  importance.  Sum- 
ner's  figure  was  tall,  well-knit,  and  handsome.  He 
had  a  noble  head,  a  profusion  of  dark-brown  hair, 
which  was  arranged  with  an  appearance  of  studied 
negligence,  and  his  presence  was  always  command 
ing  and  dignified.  He  was  one  of  the  few  men  whom 
visitors  to  the  Senate  galleries  first  asked  to  have 
pointed  out  for  them. 

He  affected  a  picturesque  style  of  dress,  wearing 
colors  brighter  than  those  which  predominated  in 
the  senatorial  togas  of  the  period.  His  favorite 
costume  was  a  brown  coat  and  light  waistcoat,  lav 
ender-colored  or  checked  trousers,  and  shoes  with 
English  gaiters.  His  appearance  in  his  seat  in 
the  Senate  Chamber  was  studiously  dignified.  He 
once  told  me  that  he  never  allowed  himself,  even 
in  the  privacy  of  his  own  chamber,  to  fall  into  a 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  25 

position  which  he  would  not  take  in  his  chair  in 
the  Senate.  " Habit,"  he  said,  "is  everything." 
This  being  repeated  to  jolly  Senator  Nesmith  of 
Oregon,  he  said:  "I  wonder  how  Sunnier  would 
look  in  his  night-shirt  ? "  During  the  greater  part 
of  my  stay  in  Washington  I  occupied  the  rooms 
on  New  York  Avenue  which  had  previously  been 
tenanted  by  Mr.  Sumner.  Mr.  D.  A.  Gardner,  the 
aged  custodian  of  the  house,  whom  we  facetiously 
dubbed  "  The  Ancient,"  once  told  me  that  his  family 
always  knew  when  Sumner  was  preparing  to  make 
a  set  speech  in  the  Senate,  weeks  before  it  was 
known  to  the  general  public.  In  the  rear  of  Sum- 
ner's  apartment  was  a  gallery  from  which  the  in 
terior  of  the  rooms  could  be  viewed.  The  younger 
members  of  the  Gardner  family,  with  a  curiosity 
natural  to  youth,  would  be  attracted  by  the  sound 
of  the  Senator's  magnificent  voice  rehearsing  his 
speech,  and  from  the  gallery  they  could  look  in  and 
see  him  before  a  pier-glass,  fixed  between  the  front 
windows,  studying  the  effect  of  his  gestures  by  the 
light  of  lamps  placed  at  each  side  of  the  mirror. 
It  is  very  likely  that  this  entirely  natural  practice 
of  the  senator  became  known  to  his  enemies,  who 
magnified  it,  sneeringly  saying  that  "  the  senator 
from  Massachusetts  was  in  the  habit  of  rehearsing 
his  speeches  before  a  looking-glass,  with  a  nigger 
holding  a  lamp  on  each  side  of  him." 

u  Bluff  Ben  Wade  "  of  Ohio,  as  he  was  familiarly 
known  to  his  friends  and  admirers,  was  one  of  the 
most  notable  figures  in  the  Senate  during  the  war 
times.  He  was  in  person  the  embodiment  of  the 
high  qualities  that  he  possessed  —  manliness,  cour- 


26  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

age,  vehemence,  and  a  certain  bulldog  obduracy 
truly  masterful.  His  figure  was  stout,  sturdy,  and 
muscular,  a  little  above  the  medium  height,  and  in 
dicative  of  great  physical  endurance.  His  iron-gray 
hair,  sharp  bright  eyes,  and  firm-set  jaw  were  char 
acteristic  of  the  alert  and  combative  statesman  that 
he  was.  Nevertheless,  Wade  was  a  tender-hearted, 
gracious,  and  lovable  man.  His  impatience  with  the 
apparent  sluggishness  of  Lincoln's  administration 
betrayed  him  into  frequent  exhibitions  of  bad  tem 
per,  and  his  intense  radicalism  too  often  hurried 
him  into  complications  with  the  more  conservative 
Union  politicians  in  Washington;  and  he  did  not 
always  extricate  himself  from  these  entanglements 
with  credit  to  himself. 

William  Pitt  Fessenden  of  Maine  was  chairman 
of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Finance  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  war  and  up  to  the  time  of  his 
translation  to  the  chair  of  the  Treasury  Department, 
made  vacant  by  the  sudden  resignation  of  Secretary 
Chase.  Fessenden  was  a  tall,  spare  man,  with  angu 
lar  features  and  figure,  and  a  pale,  intellectual  face, 
from  which  the  iron-gray  hair  was  carefully  brushed 
backward.  His  mariner  was  cold,  dry,  and  severe. 
His  humor  was  acrid  and  biting.  Remonstrating 
with  a  member  of  the  House  who  had  championed 
a  bill  for  the  abolition  of  the  franking  privilege, 
but  who  wanted  it  quietly  strangled  in  the  Senate, 
Fessenden  grimly  said :  "  My  dear  fellow,  you  can't 
make  the  reputation  of  a  statesman  with  fourpence- 
ha'penny  tricks  like  that."  Another  politician  —  a 
gentleman  from  Nevada — approached  Fessenden 
to  secure  his  aid  in  putting  through  the  Senate 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  27 

a  bill  appropriating  money  to  establish  a  United 
States  branch  mint  in  Carson,  Nevada.  Among 
other  arguments  to  move  the  senator's  objection' 
that  the  Territory  was  too  young  and  too  small  to 
amount  to  anything,  the  Nevada  man  said:  "All 
that  the  Territory  needs  to  make  it  a  good  State  is 
a  little  more  water,  and  a  little  better  society." 
"  That 's  all  that  hell  wants,"  was  the  Maine  sena 
tor's  discouraging  reply. 

"  Zack"  Chandler  of  Michigan,  tall,  saturnine,  at 
times  grim  and  at  times  jocular,  was  one  of  the 
senators  who  attracted  the  attention  of  visitors  to 
the  Capitol ;  his  bold  and  sometimes  reckless  au 
dacity,  his  perfect  self-control,  and  his  wonderful 
familiarity  with  the  ins  and  outs  of  politics,  made 
him  a  most  interesting  personality  in  the  Senate. 

Occasionally  a  cabinet  minister  would  stray  into 
the  sacred  precincts  of  the  Senate,  or  Hooker,  Burn- 
side,  or  Meade  would  be  seen  sitting  in  the  corner 
of  the  chamber  consulting  with  Senator  Wilson,  or 
some  other  Republican  leader  identified  with  the 
comlttfft  of  the  war. 

"""Secretary  Seward  was  slight  and  small  in  stature, 
light-haired,  and  oddly  hostile  to  all  attempts  at 
taking  his  likeness.  His  manner  in  public  was  ele 
gant  and  courtly,  and  he  was  one  of  the  few  men  I 
ever  knew  in  Washington  who  made  a  practice  of 
bowing  to  apparent  strangers  who  looked  at  him  as 
if  they  knew  who  he  was.  He  usually  wore  a  dark- 
colored  frock-coat  and  light  trousers,  and  his  figure 
was  erect  and  alert.  He  was  affable  and  courteous 
in  address,  and  was  seldom  excited  or  outwardly 
ruffled.  Like  Lincoln,  he  was  fond  of  good  stories. 


28  WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

and  he  was  himself  a  capital  story-teller  as  well  as 
a  good  smoker;  and  his  cigars  were  famous  for 
their  high  quality.  Rightly  or  wrongly,  he  was 
popularly  regarded  as  friendly  to  McClellan,  and 
for  that  and  other  reasons  was  disliked  by  Mrs.  Lin 
coln,  who  would  have  been  glad  if  the  President  had 
put  Mr.  Seward  out  of  the  State  Department,  and 
put  in  his  place  Mr.  Sumner,  whom  she  greatly 
admired. 

Once  I  saw  Secretary  Seward  engaged  in  a  case 
before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  This  was 
probably  his  only  appearance  before  that  tribunal 
during  his  term  of  office  in  the  State  Department. 
It  was  in  the  celebrated  Albany  bridge  case,  which 
had  been  carried  over  from  a  period  before  Mr. 
Se ward's  appointment.  His  manner  at  that  time 
was  not  impressive.  He  spoke  with  great  delibera 
tion  ;  he  frequently  fumbled  with  a  big  red  silk 
handkerchief  that  lay  on  the  table  before  him,  and 
occasionally  he  blew  a  tremendous  blast  on  his 
very  large  nose,  as  if  he  were  in  the  habit  of  taking 
snuff. 

Secretary  Stan  ton  was  not  often  seen  outside  the 
War  Department  building.  He  apparently  spent 
his  days  and  nights  in  that  musty  old  barrack. 
His  customary  position  in  his  office  was  standing  at 
a  high,  long  desk,  facing  the  principal  entrance  to 
the  room,  and  open  to  all  who  had  the  right  of  au 
dience  ;  for  he  shunned  every  semblance  of  privacy 
in  office.  From  that  awful  tribunal,  so  well  remem 
bered  by  all  who  had  occasion  to  approach  the  great 
War  Secretary  on  matters  of  public  importance, 
were  issued  many  orders  of  supreme  moment.  He 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  29 

was  opinionated,  almost  immovable  in  his  judg 
ments  ;  yet  absolutely  just,  when  not  led  astray  by 
his  impetuous  temper,  as  he  was  apt  to  be  at  times 
in  the  prodigious  rush  of  official  cares.  Unlike 
nearly  all  his  associates  in  the  cabinet,  Stanton 
was  never  accused  of  having  any  ambitions  for  a 
higher  place  than  his  own.  He  lived  in  handsome 
style,  entertained  generously,  and  was  desperately 
hated  by  the  newspaper  men,  some  of  whom  ap 
peared  to  regard  him  as  a  fiend  incarnate.  Cer 
tainly,  Stanton' s  terrific  earnestness  in  the  prosecu 
tion  of  the  war  and  the  maintenance  of  the  discipline 
of  the  military  service,  made  him  regardless  of  many 
of  the  minor  graces  of  life  which  might  have  en 
deared  him  to  a  generation  of  men  who  held  him 
in  the  highest  respect  for  his  patriotism,  great  pub 
lic  services,  and  wonderful  talent  for  administra 
tion.  His  spectacled  face,  with  full  black  whiskers 
grizzled  with  gray,  and  a  peculiar  silvery  streak  on 
the  chin,  is  familiar  to  thousands  of  Americans  who 
have  seen  his  portrait  on  the  paper  currency  of  the 
nation. 

Lincoln  appeared  to  have  not  only  a  great  respect 
for  Secretary  Stanton's  abilities,  but  a  certain  dif 
fidence  about  any  attempt  to  thwart  the  Secretary 
in  any  way.  I  doubt  very  much  if  he  ever  said  — 
as  was  reported  of  him  —  that  he  "  had  no  influence 
with  this  administration,"  the  War  Department  be 
ing  especially  referred  to ;  but  I  know  that  he  dis 
liked  to  contradict  or  interfere  with  the  Secretary 
if  it  could  be  avoided.  On  more  than  one  occasion, 
however,  the  Secretary's  iron  will  had  to  give  way 
before  a  decisive  order.  An  amusing,  and  yet  strik- 


30  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN^  TIME 

ing,  illustration  of  the  qualities  of  mind  of  the  Presi 
dent  and  Secretary  was  afforded  in  the  case  of 
Captain  T.  T.  Eckert,  then  superintendent  of  the 
military  telegraph  bureau  that  had  been  created  in 
the  War  Department  (and  now  president  of  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company).  Captain 
Eckert  was  a  man  of  indomitable  industry,  an  in 
cessant  worker,  and  he  was  so  over-burdened  with 
labor  that  he  seldom  left  his  narrow  quarters,  where 
he  was  "  cribbed,  cabined,  and  confined "  near  the 
War  Department  building,  even  for  needful  rest  and 
sleep.  Much  to  Eckert's  amazement  and  chagrin, 
Captain  Sanford,  also  attached  to  the  military  ser 
vice  as  a  special  officer  (and  afterward  well  known  as 
president  of  an  express  company),  was  detailed  to 
take  his  place  as  superintendent  of  the  bureau. 
Captain  Sanford  was  reluctant  to  displace  Captain 
Eckert,  especially  as  he  was  not  familiar  with  the 
practical  working  of  the  telegraph.  Accordingly, 
Sanford  took  occasion  to  let  Eckert  know  that  he 
was  to  be  relieved  "  for  neglect  of  duty,"  by  the 
order  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  An  allegation  so 
unjust  wounded  and  surprised  the  hard-working 
and  harassed  officer,  who  was  conscious  that  he 
had  done  his  full  duty  by  the  government.  The 
upshot  of  the  business  was  that  Captain  Eckert, 
after  he  had  succeeded  in  sending  in  his  resignation 
before  an  order  of  dismissal  could  reach  him,  was 
permitted  to  face  the  War  Secretary  for  the  first 
time  since  he  had  been  on  duty.  It  appeared  that 
Captain  Eckert  had  originally  been  ordered  to  re 
port  to  General  McClellan,  and  those  orders  had 
never  been  changed  or  revoked.  Stanton  had  for- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  31 

gotten  this,  or  did  not  know  it ;  and  he  had  charged 
to  the  remissness  of  Captain  Eckert's  bureau  the 
currency  on  the  streets  of  Washington  of  military 
intelligence,  which  had  really  leaked  out  from 
McClellan's  headquarters.  The  Secretary  learned 
for  the  first  time,  in  reply  to  questions  propounded 
by  him  with  almost  brutal  sternness,  that  Captain 
Eckert's  orders  required  him  to  report  to  General 
McClellan,  and  not  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  nor 
even  to  the  President.  Whtie  this  harsh  catechism 
was  going  on,  the  tall  form  of  the  President  ap 
peared  in  the  doorway  behind  the  captain,  and  Lin 
coln,  lingering  for  a  moment  as  he  entered,  heard 
some  portions  of  the  talk.  Then,  striding  forward, 
he  cheerily  addressed  Eckert  (who,  by  the  way,  had 
been  appointed  from  Ohio)  with,  "  How  now,  my 
Buckeye  friend,  what 's  the  trouble  here  I "  When 
he  was  told  that  the  captain  was  on  the  point  of 
being  discharged  for  neglect  of  duty,  the  President 
expressed  his  amazement,  and  said  that  he  had  long 
been  in  the  habit  of  going  to  Captain  Eckert's  of 
fice  for  news  from  the  front,  for  encouragement 
and  comfort  when  he  was  anxious  and  depressed. 
He  had  gone  there,  he  said,  at  all  hours  of  the  day 
and  night, — two  o'clock  in  the  day,  and  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  at  midday,  daybreak,  and  sunrise,— 
and  he  had  never  found  the  captain  absent  from 
his  post  of  duty ;  and  that  he  should  be  guilty  of 
neglect  of  duty  was  simply  incredible.  The  grim 
Secretary  relaxed  his  attitude  of  stern  reproach, 
and  Captain  Eckert  was  directed  to  return  to  his 
post  with  the  rank  and  pay  of  major,  reporting 
thereafter  to  the  Secretary  and  the  President.  In 


32  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

due  course  of  time,  Major  Eckert  was  appointed 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  and  before  he  resigned 
his  commission  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he  bore  the 
rank  and  title  of  brevet  brigadier-general.  It  was 
this  faithful  officer,  by  the  way,  who  was  chosen  to 
carry  to  the  Confederate  commissioners  at  Hamp 
ton  Eoads,  later  in  the  war,  the  President's  reply  to 
their  appeal,  before  the  President  made  up  his  mind, 
at  Grant's  suggestion,  to  go  there  in  person.  Lin 
coln's  arrival  on  the  scene  when  the  captain  was 
"  having  it  out "  with  the  headstrong  Secretary  was 
in  the  nature  of  a  special  providence. 

Captain  Gustavus  V.  Fox,  a  man  cast  in  the 
mold  of  the  indefatigable  Secretary  of  War,  but 
agreeably  affable  and  winning  in  his  manner,  was 
the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  its  in 
forming  spirit.  Once  the  President  requested  me 
to  go  to  the  Navy  Department,  and  see  what  could 
be  done  for  a  young  friend  of  mine  who  had  been 
in  the  army,  and  who  desired  to  get  into  the 
navy,  in  order  to  keep  his  promise  not  to  go  back 
into  the  military  service.  And  as  I  was  discussing 
the  ways  and  means,  the  President  said,  "Here, 
take  this  card  to  Captain  Fox ;  lie  is  the  Navy  De 
partment."  Captain  Fox,  although  a  hard  worker, 
was  rotund  and  rosy,  the  very  picture  of  a  good 
liver  who  took  life  easy.  But  he  was  capable  of 
performing  prodigious  feats  of  labor,  and  he  was  a 
complete  encyclopedia  of  facts  and  figures  relating 
to  the  naval  service  and  its  collateral  branches, 
and  was  ready  to  take  up  and  dispose  of  any  of  the 
multitudinous  details  of  the  Navy  Department  at  a 
moment's  notice.  He  was  a  rnarvelously  self-poised 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN^    TIME  33 

and  ready  man;  he  was  the  life  and  soul  of  the 
department. 

Secretary  Welles  was  not  readily  accessible  to 
anybody,  civilian  or  military,  and  his  gentle  and 
courteous  manner,  when  he  was  reached,  was  rather 
disappointing  to  the  visitor.  He  appeared  to  be 
vague  and  shadowy.  One  energetic  and  business 
like  senator  (Conness  of  California)  was  wont  to 
declare  that  the  Secretary  did  not  have  a  tangible 
shape,  and  that  one's  arm  could  sweep  through  his 
form.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Navy  was  disliked  by  the  newspaper 
people,  and  that  he  suffered  accordingly.  One  of 
the  craft  fancied  that  he  saw  in  Mr.  Welles's  face 
and  profile  a  likeness  to  the  ill-fated  consort  of 
Louis  XVI.,  as  she  is  painted  by  one  of  the  Diissel- 
dorf  artists,  on  her  way  to  execution.  And  "  Marie 
Antoinette  "  the  Secretary  was  called  by  the  irrev 
erent  newspaper  men,  who  had  a  nickname  for 
every  public  man. 

President  Lincoln  dearly  loved  a  good  story  at 
the  expense  of  any  one  of  the  dignitaries  of  the 
time,  and  he  was  accustomed  to  relate  with  much 
amusement  a  tale  that  was  told  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  by  one  of  the  humorous  scribes  brought 
forth  by  the  literary  opportunities  of  the  war— 
"  Orpheus  C.  Kerr."  The  story  ran  that  a  dying 
sailor  in  one  of  the  Washington  hospitals  said  he 
was  ready  to  go  if  he  could  see  his  old  grandmother 
at  home  before  he  died ;  and  the  attendant  at  his 
bedside,  being  directed  to  ask  Secretary  Welles  if 
he  would  personate  that  relative,  the  Secretary  re 
plied  that  he  would  do  it  with  pleasure — but  he 


34  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

was  then  busy  examining  a  model  of  Noah's  ark 
with  a  view  of  introducing  it  into  the  United  States 
navy.  One  autumnal  evening,  while  the  President 
and  his  family  were  lingering  at  the  Soldiers' 
Home,  near  Washington,  where  the  summer  had 
been  passed,  a  little  party  from  the  city  was  being 

entertained.     Among  these  was  Mr.  A T , 

of  New  Hampshire.  The  President,  standing  with 
his  back  to  the  fire  and  his  legs  spread  apart,  re 
cited  from  memory  the  aforementioned  invention, 
appropriately  illustrating  it  with  gestures,  much  to 
the  amusement  of  those  present.  When  he  had 
finished,  he  turned  to  me  and  said:  "Now  don't 
let  the  Secretary  know  that  I  have  been  telling 
these  stories  on  him ;  for  he  would  be  dreadfully 
mortified  if  he  knew  it."  Probably  I  showed  some 
surprise  and  vexation  at  this  implied  and  unmerited 
rebuke ;  and  when  we  were  preparing  to  retire  for 
the  night,  the  other  visitors  having  departed,  Lin 
coln  took  occasion  to  explain  that  he  did  not  for  a 
moment  suppose  that  I  would  violate  any  confi 
dence,  but  he  had  used  me  as  a  friend  over  whom  to 

hit  Mr.  T ,  who,  as  he  expressed  it,  was  a  "  leaky 

vessel,"  and  might  go  away  and  tell  all  that  he  had 
heard,  unless  warned. 

Of  the  other  members  of  the  cabinet,  Attorney- 
General  Bates  was  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school, 
short  in  stature,  gray-haired,  rather  shy  and  re 
served  in  manner,  and  not  much  seen  in  Washing 
ton  society.  Mr.  Bates  was  of  a  philosophic  turn 
of  mind  and  a  close  observer  of  man  and  nature ; 
and,  when  one  had  made  his  intimate  acquaintance, 
he  was  found  to  be  a  most  delightful  talker.  In 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  35 

his  old-fashioned  courtliness  he  resembled  Mr. 
Seward.  Montgomery  Blair,  Postmaster-General, 
was  rated  as  the  best-read  man  in  Lincoln's  cabinet, 
and  he  was  well  versed  in  literature  ancient  and 
contemporaneous ;  but  his  manners  were  awkward 
and  unattractive.  In  politics  he  was  a  restless  mis 
chief-maker,  and,  like  his  brother  Frank,  he  was  ap 
parently  never  so  happy  as  when  he  was  in  hot 
water  or  was  making  water  hot  for  others.  He 
was  the  stormy  petrel  of  the  Lincoln  administra 
tion.  Although  Caleb  B.  Smith  of  Indiana,  Sec 
retary  of  the  Interior,  was  one  of  the  original 
members  of  Lincoln's  cabinet,  his  immediate  suc 
cessor,  John  P.  Usher,  from  the  same  State,  is 
generally  regarded  as  the  representative  man  in 
the  Interior  Department  during  that  administra 
tion  :  he  held  office  from  the  time  of  Smith's  resig 
nation  in  the  autumn  of  1862  to  near  the  end  of 
Lincoln's  life.  Secretary  Usher  was  a  fair,  florid, 
well-nourished  and  comfortable  man,  an  able  law 
yer,  a  great  worker,  and  generally  accessible  to  the 
newspaper  men,  who  for  that  reason  always  had  a 
good  word  for  the  good-natured  and  kindly  dis 
posed  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  This  habit  of  the 
gentlemen  of  the  press,  who  classed  public  men 
rather  by  their  personal  qualities  than  by  their 
actual  merits,  appears  to  have  survived  the  shock 
of  war. 

During  the  time  of  his  occupying  the  post  of 
confidential  military  adviser  to  the  President,  Gen 
eral  Halleck  had  his  office  in  the  Winder  building, 
near  the  War  Department,  and  his  residence  was 
on  Georgetown  Heights.  General  Halleck's  figure 


36  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

was  tall  and  well  proportioned,  though  somewhat 
inclined  to  portliness.  His  face  was  exceedingly 
grave  and  saturnine,  his  complexion  sallow  and 
dark,  and  his  habitual  bearing  was  that  of  a  man 
sure  of  himself  and  distrustful  of  everybody  else. 
But  in  the  privacy  of  his  own  house  he  could  relax 
to  geniality ;  he  liked  a  good  story,  and  could  tell 
one  with  gusto.  Halleck  was  a  close  student  of 
human  nature,  and  while  his  smoothly  shaven  face 
was  a  complete  mask  for  his  own  emotions  and 
thoughts,  his  large  dark  penetrating  eyes  looked 
through  one  with  searching  thoroughness.  It  is 
not  true  that  President  Lincoln  was  ruled  com 
pletely  by  General  Halleck,  as  so  many  ill-informed 
people  used  to  say.  Lincoln  liked  to  "  talk  strategy" 
with  Halleck,  but  was  never  veiy  much  under  the 
general's  influence  even  in  military  matters.  He 
had  opinions  of  his  own,  and  was  often  impatient 
with  Halleck's  slowness  and  extreme  caution. 

One  evening  in  the  early  summer  of  1863,  just 
after  the  failure  of  the  naval  attack  on  Fort  Sum- 
ter,  the  President  asked  me  to  go  with  him  to 
Halleck's  headquarters  for  a  chat  with  the  general. 
Soon  after  our  arrival,  the  President  and  General 
Halleck  fell  into  a  discussion  as  to  the  possibility 
of  landing  a  strong  force  of  artillery  and  infantry 
on  Morris  Island,  Charleston  Harbor,  under  cover 
of  the  gunboats,  to  cooperate  with  the  navy  in  an 
attack  upon  the  rebel  fortifications  on  Cummin gs 
Point.  The  President  said  he  thought  that  Fort 
Sumter  might  be  reduced  in  this  way,  and  that,  by 
gradual  approaches,  we  could  get  within  range  of 
the  city  of  Charleston.  He  illustrated  his  theory 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  37 

of  gradual  approaches  by  means  of  three  or  four 
lead-pencils  and  pen-handles,  which  he  arranged  in 
parallels,  shifting  them  from  time  to  time  to  show 
how,  according  to  his  notion  of  military  strategy, 
our  lines  could  be  advanced  in  the  desired  direc 
tion.  Halleck  would  not  say  that  it  was  imprac 
ticable  to  land  troops  on  the  southeast  end  of  the 
island,  but  he  insisted  that  they  could  do  nothing 
after  they  got  there ;  and  he  made  a  strong  point 
of  the  statement  that  the  strip  of  land  between 
Fort  Wagner  and  the  place  of  landing  was  so  nar 
row  that  the  zigzag  parallel  lines  laid  out  by  the 
President,  according  to  scientific  rules,  could  not 
be  made.  Assistant- Secretary  Fox  of  the  Navy 
Department  came  in  during  the  conference,  and 
the  President  appealed  to  him  for  his  opinion. 
Captain  Fox  agreed  with  Lincoln  that  the  move 
ment  could  be  made,  but  whenever  the  President 
pressed  this  view  upon  Halleck,  the  general  invari 
ably  replied :  "  If  it  were  practicable  it  would  have 
been  done ;  but  the  plan  would  be  utterly  futile  for 
the  reason  that  there  is  not  room  enough  for  the 
approaches  which  must  be  made."  Halleck,  al 
though  he  treated  the  suggestions  of  Lincoln  with 
great  respect,  evidently  entertained  profound  con 
tempt  for  his  military  knowledge.  When  he  went 
away  Lincoln  (whose  common- sense  view  of  the 
situation  appeared  to  me,  an  amateur,  to  be  sensible 
and  feasible)  expressed  himself  as  discouraged  with 
what  he  called  "  General  Halleck's  habitual  atti 
tude  of  demur." 

That  night,  as  we  walked  back  to  the  White  House 
through  the  grounds  between  the  War  Department 


38  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

buildings  and  the  house,  I  fancied  that  I  saw  in  the 
misty  moonlight  a  man  dodging  behind  one  of  the 
trees.  My  heart  for  a  moment  stood  still,  but,  as 
we  passed  in  safety,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  dodging  figure  was  a  creature  of  the  imagina 
tion.  Nevertheless,  as  I  parted  from  the  President 
at  the  door  of  the  White  House,  I  could  not  help 
saying  that  I  thought  his  going  to  and  fro  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  as  it  was  usually  his  custom, 
often  alone  and  unattended,  was  dangerous  reck 
lessness.  That  night,  in  deference  to  his  wife's 
anxious  appeal,  he  had  provided  himself  with  a 
thick  oaken  stick.  He  laughed  as  he  showed  me 
this  slight  weapon,  and  said,  but  with  some  serious 
ness  :  "I  long  ago  made  up  my  mind  that  if  any 
body  wants  to  kill  me,  he  will  do  it.  If  I  wore 
a  shirt  of  mail,  and  kept  myself  surrounded  by  a 
body-guard,  it  would  be  all  the  same.  There  are  a 
thousand  ways  of  getting  at  a  man  if  it  is  desired 
that  he  should  be  killed.  Besides,  in  this  case,  it 
seems  to  me  the  man  who  would  come  after  me 
would  be  just  as  objectionable  to  my  enemies  —  if 
I  have  any." 

The  oaken  stick  to  which  I  have  just  referred 
was  fashioned  from  a  bit  of  timber  from  one  of  the 
men-of-war  sunk  in  the  fight  at  Hampton  Eoads; 
the  ferule  was  an  iron  bolt  from  the  rebel  ram 
Merrimac,  and  another  bolt  from  the  Monitor  fur 
nished  the  head  of  the  cane.  After  Mr.  Lincoln's 
death,  Mrs.  Lincoln  gave  me  the  stick,  which  had 
been  presented  to  the  President  by  an  officer  of  the 
navy. 


CHAPTER   II 

GLIMPSES   OF  LINCOLN   IN  WAR  TIME 

THE  CLOUDY  CLOSE  OF  1862 — CHANGE  OF  COMMAND- 
EKS  OF  THE  AKMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC  —  THE  FREDER 
ICKSBURG  DEFEAT  —  A  GLOOMY  NEW  YEARNS  DAY 
IN  WASHINGTON  —  REVIEWING  HOOKER'S  ARMY  — 
SOCIAL  INCIDENTS  IN  WASHINGTON  —  LINCOLN'S 
POWERS  OF  MEMORY. 

IT  would  be  impossible  to  give  to  one  who  was 
not  near  the  front  in  time  of  war  a  vivid  idea 
of  the  excitement  that  prevailed  at  the  national 
capital  during  the  fighting  around  Fredericksburg, 
Virginia,  in  December,  1862.  And  the  depth  of 
the  gloom  that  succeeded  that  disastrous  attack  is 
equally  indescribable.  Although  everybody  ap 
peared  to  have  kindly  and  generous  feelings  for 
General  Burnside,  there  was  not  much  confidence 
expressed  in  Washington  when  his  movement 
against  Fredericksburg  began.  It  seemed  to  us, 
uninformed  and  ignorant  civilians,  a  most  difficult 
and  hazardous  undertaking;  and  it  is  worthy  of 
remembrance  that  almost  everybody  had  a  convic 
tion  that  there  was  to  be  a  supporting  movement, 
somehow  and  somewhere,  when  Burnside  should 
cross  the  Rappahannock  and  assault  the  heights  of 
Fredericksburg.  I  have  never  learned  why  such  a 

39 


40  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

belief  was  common  at  the  capital;  but  such  was 
the  fact.  There  was  no  such  supporting  or  co 
operating  movement. 

Burnside's  troops  began  crossing  the  river  at 
dawn  on  the  llth  of  December,  1862.  The  great 
fight  came  on  the  13th,  when  the  Union  forces 
faced  that  dreadful  hill,  near  the  town,  whose  de 
clivity  was  a  compact  mass  of  artillery  and  mus 
ketry  served  by  a  brave  and  determined  enemy. 
The  Union  troops  marched  to  certain  death.  The 
Union  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  10,884.  Af 
ter  one  or  two  spasmodic  and  ineffectual  attempts 
to  renew  the  fight  and  carry  the  heights,  the  army 
was  withdrawn  to  the  northern  side  of  the  river  in 
the  midst  of  a  storm  which  prevailed  during  the 
evening  of  December  15th. 

UNCHEEKFUL  HOLIDAYS 

SEVEKAL  days  passed  before  anybody  in  Wash 
ington,  outside  of  government  circles,  actually  re 
alized  that  we  had  suffered  a  great  and  bloody 
defeat.  We  hoped  against  hope ;  for  by  that  time 
we  had  begun  to  learn  that  the  news  of  a  Union 
victory  was  never  long  delayed  nor  ever  under 
stated  in  detail.  When  ill  news  came,  it  leaked 
out  in  driblets.  This  was  when  the  direful  ac 
counts  of  the  Fredericksburg  repulse  slowly  filtered 
through  the  lines.  And,  so  strict  was  the  censor 
ship  in  Washington,  the  general  public  outside  of 
that  city  did  not  receive  all  the  truth  until  it  had 
been  known  and  discussed  in  the  national  capital 
for  at  least  twenty-four  hours. 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  41 

Although  there  was  some  fighting  on  the  12th 
of  the  month,  and  a  sanguinary  struggle  on  the 
13th,  the  last  of  the  wounded  were  not  received 
at  the  Washington  hospitals  until  the  29th.  The 
least  severely  wounded  came  first,  and  it  was  re 
marked  that  a  major  portion  of  these  were  dis 
abled  by  wounds  on  the  upper  part  of  their  bodies 
-heads  and  shoulders  suffering  most.  They  had 
been  shot  at  while  climbing  a  hill. 

Most  uncheerful  were  the  so-called  holidays  of 
that  season.  The  city  was  filled  with  wounded  and 
dying  men;  and  multitudes  of  people  from  the 
North,  seeking  lost,  missing,  or  wounded  relatives, 
crowded  the  hotels.  Nevertheless,  with  all  these 
signs  of  woe  on  every  hand,  and  with  the  great 
heart  of  the  nation  oppressed  with  discouragement 
and  anxiety,  the  customary  and  conventional  fes 
tivities  of  Christmas  and  New  Year's  day  must  be 
observed.  I  made  the  rounds  of  the  official  resi 
dences  in  company  with  a  California  representative 
in  Congress,  and  we  were  struck  with  the  artifici 
ality  of  the  show.  One  or  two  of  the  members  of 
the  President's  cabinet  did  not  receive  calls  on 
New  Year's,  but  there  was  much  elegance  and  pro- 
fuseness  of  hospitality  at  the  house  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  and  Mr.  Stanton's  face  wore  no  sign 
of  the  worry  that  must  have  distressed  him  on 
that  anxious,  unfestive  day. 

Not  so  with  the  President.  He  received  the  dip 
lomatic  corps  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon, 
and  when  these  shining  officials  had  duly  congratu 
lated  him  and  had  been  bowed  out,  the  officers  of 
the  army  and  navy  who  happened  to  be  in  town 


42  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

were  received  in  the  order  of  their  rank.  At  twelve, 
noon,  the  gates  of  the  White  House  grounds  were 
flung  wide  open,  and  the  sovereign  people  were  ad 
mitted  to  the  mansion  in  instalments.  I  had  gone 
to  the  house  earlier,  and  now  enjoyed  the  privilege 
of  contrasting  the  decorous  quiet  of  the  receptions 
at  the  residences  of  lesser  functionaries  with  the 
wil  d,  tumultuous  rush  into  the  White  Hou  se.  Some 
times  the  pressure  and  the  disorder  were  almost  ap 
palling;  and  it  required  no  little  engineering  to 
steer  the  throng,  after  it  had  met  and  engaged  the 
President,  out  of  the  great  window  from  which  a 
temporary  bridge  had  been  constructed  for  an  exit. 

In  the  midst  of  this  turmoil  the  good  President 
stood  serene  and  even  smiling.  But  as  I  watched 
his  face,  I  could  see  that  he  often  looked  over  the 
heads  of  the  multitudinous  strangers  who  shook 
his  hand  with  fervor  and  affection.  "His  eyes 
were  with  his  thoughts,  and  they  were  far  away  " 
on  the  bloody  and  snowy  field  of  Fredericksburg, 
or  with  the  defeated  and  worn  Burnside,  with  whom 
he  had  that  very  day  had  a  long  and  most  depress 
ing  interview.  In  the  intervals  of  his  ceremonial 
duties  he  had  written  a  letter  to  General  Halleck 
which  that  officer  construed  as  an  intimation  that 
his  resignation  of  the  office  of  general-in-chief 
would  be  acceptable  to  the  President.  It  was  not 
an  occasion  for  cheer. 

But  when  Congress  reassembled  in  January,  1863, 
after  the  holiday  recess,  the  air  was  somewhat  clari 
fied,  and  the  hearts  of  Union  senators  and  rep 
resentatives  were  cheered  by  military  news  from 
the  Southwest,  where  Eosecrans  and  Sherman  had 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  4o 

gained  important  victories ;  new  ardor  was  infused 
into  the  drooping  spirits  of  Unionists  at  the  capi 
tal.  The  autumn  elections  of  1862  had  been  inter 
preted  by  the  Peace  Democrats  as  a  rebuke  of  the 
so-called  "  abolition  policy  "  of  the  Lincoln  admin 
istration,  and  the  last  previous  session  of  Congress 
(the  Thirty-seventh)  had  met  in  December,  1862, 
under  circumstances  of  great  depression.  But  in 
January  the  effect  of  good  news  from  the  front  was 
clearly  discernible  on  the  faces  of  returning  legis 
lators.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  they  were  far  more 
cheerful  than  they  were  when  they  adjourned  for 
the  holiday  recess. 

One  of  the  early  incidents  of  the  January  session 
was  a  strong  war  speech  from  Senator  Wright,  of 
Indiana,  who  occupied  the  seat  vacated  by  the  ex 
pulsion  of  Jesse  D.  Bright  from  the  United  States 
Senate.  He  was  a  War  Democrat,  and  took  high 
ground  in  favor  of  the  President's  policy  of  eman 
cipation.  Among  other  things,  to  the  great  delight 
of  the  Unionists,  he  said  that  he  hoped  to  see  the 
time  when  a  hundred  thousand  slaveholders  would 
be  running  one  way  and  two  millions  of  slaves 
would  be  running  in  the  opposite  direction.  In 
spite  of  the  hammering  of  the  gavel  of  the  presid 
ing  officer,  the  galleries  broke  forth  into  thunderous 
applause ;  and  this  was  renewed  when,  later  on  in 
his  speech,  the  Indiana  senator  said  that  he  was 
glad  to  know  that  there  was  at  least  one  general 
who  was  not  fighting  for  the  Presidency ;  and  he 
had  been  heard  of  at  the  head,  not  the  rear,  of  his 
army,  and  had  had  two  of  his  staff  shot  down  by 
his  very  side.  This  was  an  allusion  to  Eosecrans, 


44  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

who  was  then  the  favorite  of  the  hour,  and  the  ap 
plause  that  followed  was  so  deafening  and  indecor 
ous  that  Senator  Powell,  of  Kentucky,  white  with 
wrath  and  shaking  his  fist  at  the  galleries,  demanded 
that  those  seats  be  cleared.  The  senator  was  sec 
onded  in  his  motion  by  Saulsbury,  of  Delaware; 
but  the  hilarious  crowd  in  the  galleries,  I  am  bound 
to  say,  received  these  warnings  with  undisguised 
contempt,  and  actually  laughed  at  the  speakers  be 
low.  The  President  of  the  Senate,  however,  sol 
emnly  admonished  the  spectators  that  the  rules  of 
the  Senate  must  be  enforced,  and  that  a  repetition 
of  their  offense  would  be  followed  by  a  clearing  of 
the  galleries ;  and  the  speech-making  went  on  with 
out  further  interruption. 

Once  more,  when  Burnside  began  his  famous 
"mud  march,"  January  2lst,  Washington  was  ex 
cited  with  the  high  hopes  which  were  inspired  by 
that  hapless  movement.  Civilians  came  hurrying 
to  the  capital  to  be  on  hand  when  the  news  of  vic 
tory  should  arrive;  and  congressmen  who  were 
believed  to  be  within  the  inner  circle  of  govern 
mental  confidence  were  sure  that  great  things  were 
soon  to  be  forthcoming.  Vain  hope !  After  a  short 
and  costly  struggle  with  the  elements,  the  rain  and 
the  mud  conspiring  to  hinder  the  least  progress  of 
the  army,  an  attempt  to  cross  the  Rappahannock 
at  Banks's  Ford  was  abandoned,  and  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  returned  to  its  place  of  encampment. 

But,  although  the  fond  expectations  of  the  people 
had  been  dashed  by  this  renewed  failure,  the  dis 
appointment  was  not  nearly  so  great  as  that  caused 
by  the  Fredericksburg  disaster.  There  was  an  ele- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  45 

ment  of  the  grotesque  in  the  "  mud  march"  which 
diverted  attention  from  its  serious  consequences. 
The  loss  of  material  in  that  brief  and  inglorious 
campaign  was  very  large. 

Burnside's  usefulness  as  an  army  commander  was 
conceded  to  be  over,  and  when  he  was  replaced,  a 
few  days  later,  by  "  Fighting  Joe  Hooker,"  popular 
hope,  so  often  disappointed,  again  rose  high.  At 
last,  it  was  felt,  the  man  had  come.  The  hour  could 
not  be  far  off. 

KEVIEWING  HOOKER'S  ARMY 

EARLY  in  April,  1863,  I  accompanied  the  Presi 
dent,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  and  their  youngest  son,  "  Tad," 
on  a  visit  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  —  Hooker 
then  being  in  command,  with  headquarters  on  Fal- 
mouth  Heights,  opposite  Fredericksburg.  Attorney- 
General  Bates  and  an  old  friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln  — 
Dr.  A.  Gr.  Henry  of  Washington  Territory — were 
also  of  the  party.  The  trip  had  been  postponed  for 
several  days  on  account  of  unfavorable  weather, 
and  it  began  to  snow  furiously  soon  after  the  Presi 
dent's  little  steamer,  the  Carrie  Martin,  left  the 
Washington  navy-yard.  So  thick  was  the  weather, 
and  so  difficult  the  navigation,  that  we  were  forced 
to  anchor  for  the  night  in  a  little  cove  in  the  Poto 
mac  opposite  Indian  Head,  where  we  remained  un 
til  the  following  morning.  I  could  not  help  thinking 
that  if  the  rebels  had  made  a  raid  on  the  Potomac 
at  that  time,  the  capture  of  the  chief  magistrate  of 
the  United  States  would  have  been  a  very  simple 
matter.  So  far  as  I  could  see,  there  were  no  guards 


46  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

on  board  the  boat,  and  no  precautions  were  taken 
against  a  surprise.  After  the  rest  of  the  party  had 
retired  for  the  night,  the  President,  Dr.  Henry,  and 
I  sat  up  until  long  after  midnight,  telling  stories 
and  discussing  matters,  political  or  military,  in  the 
most  free  and  easy  way.  During  the  conversation 
after  Dr.  Henry  had  left  us,  Mr.  Lincoln,  dropping 
his  voice  almost  to  a  confidential  whisper,  said, 
"  How  many  of  our  ironclads  do  you  suppose  are 
at  the  bottom  of  Charleston  harbor?"  This  was 
the  first  intimation  I  had  had  that  the  long-talked- 
of  naval  attack  on  Fort  Sumter  was  to  be  made  that 
day ;  and  the  President,  who  had  been  jocular  and 
cheerful  during  the  evening,  began  despondently  to 
discuss  the  probabilities  of  defeat.  It  was  evident 
that  his  mind  was  entirely  prepared  for  the  repulse, 
the  news  of  which  soon  after  reached  us.  During 
our  subsequent  stay  at  Hooker's  headquarters, which 
lasted  nearly  a  week,  Mr.  Lincoln  eagerly  inquired 
every  day  for  the  rebel  newspapers  that  were  brought 
in  through  the  picket-lines,  and  when  these  were  re 
ceived  he  anxiously  hunted  through  them  for  in 
formation  from  Charleston.  It  was  not  until  we 
returned  to  Washington,  however,  that  a  trust 
worthy  and  conclusive  account  of  the  failure  of  the 
attack  was  received. 

Our  landing-place,  when  en  route  for  Falmouth, 
was  at  Aquia  Creek,  which  we  reached  next  morn 
ing,  the  untimely  snow  still  falling.  "  The  Creek," 
as  it  was  called,  was  a  village  of  hastily  constructed 
warehouses,  and  its  water-front  was  lined  with 
transports  and  government  steamers ;  enormous 
freight-trains  were  continually  running  from  it  to 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  47 

the  army  encamped  among  the  hills  of  Virginia  ly 
ing  between  the  Rappahannock  and  the  Potomac. 
As  there  were  sixty  thousand  horses  and  mules  to 
be  fed  in  the  army,  the  single  item  of  daily  forage 
was  a  considerable  factor  in  the  problem  of  trans 
portation.  The  President  and  his  party  were  pro 
vided  with  an  ordinary  freight-car  fitted  up  with 
rough  plank  benches,  and  profusely  decorated  with 
flags  and  bunting.  A  great  crowd  of  army  people 
saluted  the  President  with  cheers  when  he  landed 
from  the  steamer,  and  with  "three  times  three" 
when  his  unpretentious  railway  carriage  rolled 
away.  At  Falrnouth  station,  which  was  about  five 
miles  east  of  the  old  town,  two  ambulances  and  an 
escort  of  cavalry  received  the  party,  the  honors  be 
ing  done  by  General  Daniel  Butterfield,  who  was 
then  General  Hooker's  chief  of  staff. 

At  Hooker's  headquarters  we  were  provided  with 
three  large  hospital  tents,  floored,  and  furnished 
with  camp  bedsteads  and  such  rude  appliances  for 
nightly  occupation  as  were  in  reach.  During  our 
stay  with  the  army  there  were  several  grand  re 
views,  that  of  the  entire  cavalry  corps  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  on  April  6,  being  the  most  impres 
sive  of  the  whole  series.  The  cavalry  was  now  for 
the  first  time  massed  as  one  corps  instead  of  being 
scattered  around  among  the  various  army  corps, 
as  it  had  been  heretofore;  it  was  commanded  by 
General  Stoneman.  The  entire  cavalry  force  was 
rated  at  17,000  men,  and  Hooker  proudly  said  that 
it  was  the  biggest  army  of  men  and  horses  ever 
seen  in  the  world,  bigger  even  than  the  famous  body 
of  cavalry  commanded  by  Marshal  Murat. 


48  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

The  cavalcade  on  the  way  from  headquarters  to 
the  reviewing-field  was  a  brilliant  one.  The  Presi 
dent,  wearing  a  high  hat  and  riding  like  a  veteran, 
with  General  Hooker  by  his  side,  headed  the  flying 
column ;  next  came  several  major-generals,  a  host 
of  brigadiers,  staff-officers,  and  colonels,  and  lesser 
functionaries  innumerable.  The  flank  of  this  long 
train  was  decorated  by  the  showy  uniforms  and  ac 
coutrements  of  the  "Philadelphia  Lancers,"  who 
acted  as  a  guard  of  honor  to  the  President  during 
that  visit  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  uneven 
ground  was  soft  with  melting  snow,  and  the  mud 
flew  in  every  direction  under  the  hurrying  feet  of  the 
cavalcade.  On  the  skirts  of  this  cloud  of  cavalry 
rode  the  President's  little  son  "  Tad,"  in  charge  of  a 
mounted  orderly,  his  gray  cloak  flying  in  the  gusty 
wind  like  the  plume  of  Henry  of  Navarre.  The 
President  and  the  reviewing  party  rode  past  the 
long  lines  of  cavalry  standing  at  rest,  and  then  the 
march  past  began.  It  was  a  grand  sight  to  look 
upon,  this  immense  body  of  cavalry,  with  banners 
waving,  music  crashing,  and  horses  prancing,  as 
the  vast  column  came  winding  like  a  huge  serpent 
over  the  hills  past  the  reviewing  party,  and  then 
stretching  far  away  out  of  sight. 

The  President  went  through  the  hospital  tents 
of  the  corps  that  lay  nearest  to  headquarters,  and 
insisted  upon  stopping  and  speaking  to  nearly  every 
man,  shaking  hands  with  many  of  them,  asking  a 
question  or  two  here  and  there,  and  leaving  a  kind 
word  as  he  moved  from  cot  to  cot.  More  than  once, 
as  I  followed  the  President  through  the  long  lines 
of  weary  sufferers,  I  noticed  tears  of  gladness  steal- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  49 

ing  down  their  pale  faces;  for  they  were  made  happy 
by  looking  into  Lincoln's  sympathetic  countenance, 
touching  his  hand,  and  hearing  his  gentle  voice; 
and  when  we  rode  away  from  the  camp  to  Hooker's 
headquarters,  tremendous  cheers  rent  the  air  from 
the  soldiers,  who  stood  in  groups,  eager  to  see  the 
good  President. 

The  infantry  reviews  were  held  on  several  differ 
ent  days.  On  April  8  was  the  review  of  the  Fifth 
Corps,  under  Meade;  the  Second,  under  Couch;  the 
Third,  under  Sickles ;  and  the  Sixth,  under  Sedg- 
wick.  It  was  reckoned  that  these  four  corps  num 
bered  some  60,000  men,  and  it  was  a  splendid  sight 
to  witness  their  grand  martial  array  as  they  wound 
over  hills  and  rolling  ground,  coming  from  miles 
around,  their  arms  shining  in  the  distance,  and 
their  bayonets  bristling  like  a  forest  on  the  horizon 
as  they  marched  away.  The  President  expressed 
himself  as  delighted  with  the  appearance  of  the 
soldiery,  and  he  was  much  impressed  by  the  parade 
of  the  great  reserve  artillery  force,  some  eighty 
guns,  commanded  by  Colonel  De  Russy.  One  pic 
turesque  feature  of  the  review  on  that  day  was  the 
appearance  of  the  Zouave  regiments,  whose  dress 
formed  a  sharp  contrast  to  the  regulation  uniform 
of  the  other  troops.  General  Hooker,  being  asked 
by  the  President  if  fancy  uniforms  were  not  unde 
sirable  on  account  of  the  conspicuousness  which 
they  gave  as  targets  to  the  enemy's  fire,  said  that 
these  uniforms  had  the  effect  of  inciting  a  spirit  of 
pride  and  neatness  among  the  men.  It  was  notice 
able  that  the  President  merely  touched  his  hat  in 
return  salute  to  the  officers,  but  uncovered  to  the 


50  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

men  in  the  ranks.  As  they  sat  in  the  chilly  wind, 
in  the  presence  of  the  shot-riddled  colors  of  the 
army  and  the  gallant  men  who  bore  them,  he  and  the 
group  of  distinguished  officers  around  him  formed 
a  notable  historic  spectacle.  After  a  few  days  the 
weather  grew  warm  and  bright;  and  although  the 
scanty  driblets  of  news  from  Charleston  that  were 
filtered  to  us  through  the  rebel  lines  did  not  throw 
much  sunshine  into  the  military  situation,  the 
President  became  more  cheerful  and  even  jocular. 
I  remarked  this  one  evening  as  we  sat  in  Hooker's 
headquarters,  after  a  long  and  laborious  day  of  re 
viewing.  Lincoln  replied :  "  It  is  a  great  relief  to 
get  away  from  Washington  and  the  politicians. 
But  nothing  touches  the  tired  spot." 

On  the  9th  the  First  Corps,  commanded  by  General 
Eeynolds,  was  reviewed  by  the  President  on  a  beau 
tiful  plain  at  the  north  of  Potomac  Creek,  about 
eight  miles  from  Hooker's  headquarters.  We  rode 
thither  in  an  ambulance  over  a  rough  corduroy 
road;  and,  as  we  passed  over  some  of  the  more  dif 
ficult  portions  of  the  jolting  way,  the  ambulance 
driver,  who  sat  well  in  front,  occasionally  let  fly 
a  volley  of  suppressed  oaths  at  his  wild  team  of 
six  mules.  Finally  Mr.  Lincoln,  leaning  forward, 
touched  the  man  on  the  shoulder,  and  said: 

"Excuse  me,  my  friend,  are  you  an  Episco 
palian  ?  " 

The  man,  greatly  startled,  looked  around  and 
replied : 

"No,  Mr.  President;  I  am  a  Methodist." 

"Well,"  said  Lincoln,  "I  thought  you  must  be 
an  Episcopalian,  because  you  swear  just  like  Grov- 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  51 

ernor  Seward,  who  is  a  churchwarden."  The  driver 
swore  no  more. 

As  we  plunged  and  dashed  through  the  woods, 
Lincoln  called  attention  to  the  stumps  left  by  the 
men  who  had  cut  down  the  trees,  and  with  great 
discrimination  pointed  out  where  an  experienced 
axman  made  what  he  called  "a  good  butt,"  or  where 
a  tyro  had  left  conclusive  evidence  of  being  a  poor 
chopper.  Lincoln  was  delighted  with  the  superb 
and  inspiriting  spectacle  of  the  review  that  day. 
A  noticeable  feature  of  the  doings  was  the  martial 
music  of  the  corps ;  and  on  the  following  day  the 
President,  who  loved  military  music,  was  warm  in 
his  praise  of  the  performances  of  the  bands  of  the 
Eleventh  Corps,  under  General  Howard,  and  the 
Twelfth,  under  General  Slocum.  In  these  two  corps 
the  greater  portion  of  the  music  was  furnished  by 
drums,  trumpets,  and  fifes,  and  with  most  stirring 
and  thrilling  effect.  In  the  division  commanded 
by  General  Schurz  was  a  magnificent  array  of 
drums  and  trumpets,  and  his  men  impressed  us  as 
the  best  drilled  and  most  soldierly  of  all  who  passed 
before  us  during  our  stay. 

I  recall  with  sadness  the  easy  confidence  and 
nonchalance  which  Hooker  showed  in  all  his  con 
versations  with  the  President  and  his  little  party 
while  we  were  at  his  headquarters.  The  general 
seemed  to  regard  the  whole  business  of  command 
as  if  it  were  a  larger  sort  of  picnic.  He  was  then, 
by  all  odds,  the  handsomest  soldier  I  ever  laid  my 
eyes  upon.  I  think  I  see  him  now:  tall,  shapely, 
well  dressed,  though  not  natty  in  appearance;  his 
fair  red  and  white  complexion  glowing  with  health, 


52  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

his  bright  blue  eyes  sparkling  with  intelligence  and 
animation,  and  his  auburn  hair  tossed  back  upon 
his  well-shaped  head.  His  nose  was  aquiline,  and 
the  expression  of  his  somewhat  small  mouth  was 
one  of  much  sweetness,  though  rather  irresolute, 
it  seemed  to  me.  He  was  a  gay  cavalier,  alert 
and  confident,  overflowing  with  animal  spirits,  and 
as  cheery  as  a  boy.  One  of  his  most  frequent 
expressions  when  talking  with  the  President  was, 
a  When  I  get  to  Richmond,"  or  "  After  we  have 
taken  Richmond,"  etc.  The  President,  noting  this, 
said  to  me  confidentially,  and  with  a  sigh:  uThat 
is  the  most  depressing  thing  about  Hooker.  It 
seems  to  me  that  he  is  over-confident." 

One  night  when  Hooker  and  I  were  alone  in 
his  hut,  which  was  partly  canvas  and  partly  logs, 
with  a  spacious  fireplace  and  chimney,  he  stood 
in  his  favorite  attitude  with  his  back  to  the  fire, 
and,  looking  quizzically  at  me,  said,  "  The  Presi 
dent  tells  me  that  you  know  all  about  the  letter 
he  wrote  to  me  when  he  put  me  in  command  of 
this  army."  I  replied  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  read 
it  to  me ;  whereupon  Hooker  drew  the  letter  from 
his  pocket,  and  said,  "  Would  n't  you  like  to  hear 
it  again?"  I  told  him  that  I  should,  although  I 
had  been  so  much  impressed  by  its  first  reading 
that  I  believed  I  could  repeat  the  greater  part  of 
it  from  memory.  That  letter  has  now  become 
historic;  then  it  had  not  been  made  public.  As 
Hooker  read  on,  he  came  to  this  sentence: 

You  are  ambitions,  which,  within  reasonable  bounds, 
rloos  good  rather  than  harm ;  but  I  think  during  Burn- 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  f)3 

side's  command  of  the  army  you  took  counsel  of  your 
ambition,  and  thwarted  him  as  much  as  you  could,  in 
which  you  did  a  great  wrong  to  the  country  and  to  a 
most  meritorious  and  honorable  brother  officer. 


Here  Hooker  stopped,  and  vehemently  said: 
"  The  President  is  mistaken.  I  never  thwarted 
Burnside  in  any  way,  shape,  or  manner.  Burn- 
side  was  preeminently  a  man  of  deportment:  he 
fought  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg  on  his  deport 
ment;  he  was  defeated  on  his  deportment;  and 
he  took  his  deportment  with  him  out  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  thank  God  !  "  Resuming  the 
reading  of  Lincoln's  letter,  Hooker's  tone  imme 
diately  softened,  and  he  finished  it  almost  with 
tears  in  his  eyes ;  and  as  he  folded  it,  and  put  it 
back  in  the  breast  of  his  coat,  he  said,  "That  is 
just  such  a  letter  as  a  father  might  write  to  his 
son.  It  is  a  beautiful  letter,  and,  although  I  think 
he  was  harder  on  me  than  I  deserved,  I  will  say 
that  I  love  the  man  who  wrote  it."  Then  he 
added,  "After  I  have  got  to  Richmond,  I  shall 
give  that  letter  to  you  to  have  published."  Poor 
Hooker,  he  never  got  to  Richmond ;  but  the  letter 
did  eventually  find  its  way  into  print,  and,  as  an 
epistle  from  the  commander-in -chief  of  the  army 
and  navy  of  one  of  the  greatest  nations  of  the 
world,  addressed  to  the  newly  appointed  general 
of  the  magnificent  army  intended  and  expected 
to  capture  the  capital  of  the  Confederacy  and  to 
crush  the  rebellion,  it  has  since  become  one  of 
the  famous  documents  of  the  time. 

A  peep  into  the  Confederate  lines  while  we  were 

4* 


54  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

with  the  army  was  highly  entertaining.  "Tad" 
having  expressed  a  consuming  desire  to  see  how 
the  "graybacks"  looked,  we  were  allowed,  under 
the  escort  of  one  of  General  Hooker's  aides  and 
an  orderly,  to  go  down  to  the  picket-lines  oppo 
site  Fredericksburg  and  to  take  a  look  at  them. 
On  our  side  of  the  river  the  country  had  been 
pretty  well  swept  by  shot  and  by  the  axmen,  and 
the  general  appearance  of  things  was  desolate  in 
the  extreme.  The  Phillips  House,  which  was 
Burnside's  headquarters  during  the  battle  of  Fred 
ericksburg,  had  been  burned  down,  and  the  ruins 
of  that  elegant  mansion,  built  in  the  olden  time, 
added  to  the  sorrowful  appearance  of  the  region 
desolated  by  war.  Here  and  there  stood  the  bare 
chimneys  of  houses  destroyed,  and  across  the  river 
the  smoke  from  the  camps  of  the  enemy  rose  from 
behind  a  ridge,  and  a  flag  of  stars  and  bars  floated 
over  a  handsome  residence  on  the  heights,  just 
above  the  stone  wall  where  our  men  were  slain  by 
thousands  during  the  dreadful  fight  of  December, 
1862.  The  town  of  Fredericksburg  could  be  thor 
oughly  examined  through  a  field-glass,  and  almost 
no  building  in  sight  from  where  we  stood  was 
without  battle-scars.  The  walls  of  the  houses 
were  rent  with  shot  and  shell,  and  loose  sheets  of 
tin  were  fluttering  from  the  steeple  of  a  church 
that  had  been  in  the  line  of  fire.  A  tall  chimney 
stood  solitary  by  the  river's  brink,  and  on  its  bare 
and  exposed  hearthstone  two  rebel  pickets  were 
warming  themselves,  for  the  air  was  frosty.  One 
of  them  wore  with  a  jaunty  swagger  a  United 
States  light-blue  army  overcoat.  Noting  our  ap- 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  55 

pearance,  these  cheerful  sentinels  bawled  to  us 
that  our  forces  had  been  "licked"  in  the  recent 
attack  on  Fort  Sumter;  and  a  rebel  officer,  hear 
ing  the  shouting,  came  down  to  the  river-bank, 
and  closely  examined  our  party  through  a  field- 
glass.  On  the  night  before  our  arrival,  when 
Hooker  had  vainly  looked  for  us,  a  rebel  sentry 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Rappahannock  had  asked 
if  "  Abe  and  his  wife  "  had  come  yet,  showing  that 
they  knew  pretty  well  what  was  going  on  inside 
the  Union  lines.  The  officer  inspecting  our  party, 
apparently  having  failed  to  detect  the  tall  form  of 
President  Lincoln,  took  off  his  hat,  made  a  sweep 
ing  bow,  and  retired.  Friendly  exchanges  of  to 
bacco,  newspapers,  and  other  trifles  went  on  be 
tween  the  lines,  and  it  was  difficult  to  imagine,  so 
peaceful  was  the  scene,  that  only  a  few  weeks  had 
passed  since  this  was  the  outer  edge  of  one  of  the 
bloodiest  battle-fields  of  the  war. 

One  of  the  budgets  that  came  through  the  lines 
while  we  were  at  Hooker's  headquarters  inclosed  a 
photograph  of  a  rebel  officer  addressed  to  General 
Averill,  who  had  been  a  classmate  of  the  sender. 
On  the  back  of  the  picture  was  the  autograph  of 
the  officer,  with  the  addendum,  "  A  rebellious  rebel." 
Mrs.  Lincoln,  with  a  strict  construction  of  words 
and  phrases  in  her  mind,  said  that  the  inscription 
ought  to  be  taken  as  indicating  that  the  officer  was 
a  rebel  against  the  rebel  government.  Mr.  Lincoln 
smiled  at  this  feminine  way  of  putting  the  case,  and 
said  that  the  determined  gentleman  who  had  sent 
his  picture  to  Averill  wanted  everybody  to  know 
that  he  was  not  only  a  rebel,  but  a  rebel  of  reb- 


56  WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME 

els  —  "a  double-dyed-in-the-wool  sort  of  rebel,"  he 
added. 

One  day,  while  we  were  driving  around  some  of 
the  encampments,  we  suddenly  came  upon  a  dis 
orderly  and  queer-looking  settlement  of  shanties 
and  little  tents  scattered  over  a  hillside.  As  the 
ambulance  drove  by  the  base  of  the  hill,  as  if  by 
magic  the  entire  population  of  blacks  and  yellows 
swarmed  out.  It  was  a  camp  of  colored  refugees, 
and  a  motley  throng  were  the  various  sizes  and 
shades  of  color  that  set  up  a  shrill  "Hurrah  for 
Massa  Linkuin ! n  as  we  swept  by.  Mrs.  Lincoln, 
with  a  friendly  glance  at  the  children,  who  were 
almost  innumerable,  asked  the  President  how  many 
of  "  those  piccaninnies "  he  supposed  were  named 
Abraham  Lincoln.  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  "  Let 's  see  ; 
this  is  April,  1863.  I  should  say  that  of  all  those 
babies  under  two  years  of  age,  perhaps  two  thirds 
have  been  named  for  me." 

AFTEK  HOOKER'S  DEFEAT 

THE  President  returned  to  Washington  not  only 
invigorated  and  refreshed  by  his  short  outing,  but 
somewhat  cheered  and  comforted  by  the  general 
appearance  of  the  army  and  the  indications  that 
the  coming  battle,  when  it  should  be  fought,  would 
result  fortunately  for  the  cause  of  the  Union.  The 
world  now  knows  how  great  was  the  new  disap 
pointment  that  fell  upon  him  and  upon  the  nation 
when  the  battle  was  actually  fought  and  lost  at 
Chancellorsville,  a  few  weeks  later. 

I  was  at  the  White  House  on  Wednesday,  May 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  57 

6,  and  the  President,  who  seemed  anxious  and 
harassed  beyond  any  power  of  description,  said 
that  while  still  without  any  positive  information  as 
to  the  result  of  the  fighting  at  Chancellorsville,  he 
was  certain  in  his  own  mind  that  "Hooker  had 
been  licked."  He  was  only  then  wondering  whether 
Hooker  would  be  able  to  recover  himself  and  re 
new  the  fight.  The  President  asked  me  to  go  into 
the  room  then  occupied  by  his  friend  Dr.  Henry, 
who  was  a  guest  in  the  house,  saying  possibly  we 
might  get  some  news  later  on. 

In  an  hour  or  so,  while  the  doctor  and  I  sat  talking, 
say  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  door 
opened,  and  Lincoln  came  into  the  room.  I  shall 
never  forget  that  picture  of  despair.  He  held  a  tele 
gram  in  his  hand,  and  as  he  closed  the  door  and  came 
toward  us  I  mechanically  noticed  that  his  face,  usu 
ally  sallow,  was  ashen  in  hue.  The  paper  on  the  wall 
behind  him  was  of  the  tint  known  as  "French  gray," 
and  even  in  that  moment  of  sorrow  and  dread  ex 
pectation  I  vaguely  took  in  the  thought  that  the 
complexion  of  the  anguished  President's  visage 
was  almost  exactly  like  that  of  the  wall.  He  gave 
me  the  telegram,  and  in  a  voice  trembling  with 
emotion,  said,  "Read  it — news  from  the  army." 
The  despatch  was  from  General  Butterfield,  Hook 
er's  chief  of  staff,  addressed  to  the  War  Depart 
ment,  and  was  to  the  effect  that  the  army  had  been 
withdrawn  from  the  south  side  of  the  Rappahan- 
nock,  and  was  then  "safely  encamped"  in  its 
former  position.  The  appearance  of  the  Presi 
dent,  as  I  read  aloud  these  fateful  words,  was  pite 
ous.  Never,  as  long  as  I  knew  him,  did  he  seem  to 


58  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

be  so  broken,  so  dispirited,  and  so  ghostlike.  Clasp 
ing  his  hands  behind  his  back,  he  walked  up  and 
down  the  room,  saying,  "My  God!  my  God!  What 
will  the  country  say !  What  will  the  country  say ! " 

He  seemed  incapable  of  uttering  any  other  words 
than  these,  and  after  a  little  time  he  hurriedly  left 
the  room.  Dr.  Henry,  whose  affection  for  Lincoln 
was  deep  and  tender,  burst  into  a  passion  of  tears. 
I  consoled  him  as  best  I  could,  and  while  we  were 
talking  and  trying  to  find  a  gleam  of  sunshine  in 
this  frightful  darkness,  I  saw  a  carriage  drive  up  to 
the  entrance  of  the  White  House,  and,  looking  out, 
beheld  the  tall  form  of  the  President  dart  into  the 
vehicle,  in  which  sat  General  Halleck,  and  drive 
off.  Immediately  after,  an  attendant  came  to  tell 
us  that  the  President  and  General  Halleck  had 
gone  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  would  return  next  day,  and  would  like  to 
see  me  in  the  evening. 

The  wildest  rumors  were  at  once  set  on  foot; 
but  it  was  known  that  the  President  and  General 
Halleck  had  gone  to  the  front,  taking  a  special 
steamer  at  the  navy-yard  at  four  o'clock  that  after 
noon.  It  was  commonly  believed  that  Hooker  was 
or  would  be  put  under  arrest ;  that  Halleck  would 
be  placed  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac ; 
that  Stanton  had  resigned;  that  Lee  had  cut 
Hooker  to  pieces,  and  was  approaching  Washington 
by  the  way  of  Dumfries;  that  McClellan  was  com 
ing  on  a  special  train  from  New  York,  and  that 
Sigel,  Butler,  Fremont,  and  several  other  shelved 
generals,  had  been  sent  for  in  hot  haste.  The  crowd 
at  Willard's  Hotel  that  night  was  so  great  that  it 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  59 

was  difficult  to  get  inside  the  doors.  The  friends 
of  McClellan,  and  the  Copperheads  generally,  sprang 
at  once  into  new  life  and  animation,  and  were  dotted 
through  the  gloomy  crowds  with  smiling  faces  and 
unsuppressed  joy. 

Of  course  these  fantastic  stories  speedily  passed 
away  like  mists  before  the  sun.  Hooker  was  not 
removed,  and  although  he  never  again  commanded 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  any  great  battle,  his 
withdrawal  from  his  high  post  was  accomplished 
later  on  without  any  such  disgrace  as  would  have 
attended  his  dismissal  at  that  time.  When  he  was 
finally  relieved  of  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  a  few  days  before  the  battle  of  Gettys 
burg,  and  while  Lee  was  on  his  march  to  invade 
Pennsylvania,  Hooker  went  to  Baltimore  to  wait  for 
orders,  very  much  as  McClellan  had  gone  to  Tren 
ton  to  wait  when  he  had  relinquished  his  baton  of 
command.  No  orders  went  to  Hooker,  and,  becom 
ing  impatient,  he  came  to  Washington  to  ask  for 
orders.  He  sent  his  card  to  my  rooms,  and  I  called 
on  him  at  bis  headquarters  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue, 
opposite  Willard's  Hotel.  He  did  not  in  the  least  ex 
hibit  that  chastened  spirit  which  I  expected  to  see  in 
him,  but  evidently  regarded  himself  a  greatly  abused 
man.  He  could  not  speak  in  moderation  of  any 
one  of  his  generals;  and  as  for  Halleck  and  Stanton, 
no  words  at  his  command  could  express  his  hatred 
and  contempt  for  these  men,  whom  he  regarded 
as  the  authors  of  all  his  misfortunes.  He  asked 
me  what  the  President  had  said  about  him.  I  hesi 
tated,  but  when  he  pressed  for  a  reply,  said  that  Lin 
coln  had  told  me  that  he  regarded  Hooker  very  much 


GO  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

as  a  father  might  regard  a  son  who  was  lame,  or  who 
had  some  other  incurable  physical  infirmity.  His 
love  for  his  son  would  be  even  intensified  by  the  re 
flection  that  the  lad  could  never  be  a  strong  and 
successful  man.  The  tears  stood  in  Hooker's  eyes 
as  he  heard  this  curious  characterization  of  himself; 
but  immediately  rallying,  he  said,  "  Well,  the  Presi 
dent  may  regard  me  as  a  cripple  ;  but  if  he  will  give 
me  a  chance,  I  will  yet  show  him  that  I  know  how 
to  fight."  The  next  day  Hooker  was  arrested  on  an 
order  from  the  War  Department  for  having  visited 
Washington  without  leave,  contrary  to  existing  rules 
and  regulations.  This  certainly  was  a  most  ungra 
cious  and  needless  bit  of  oppression  ;  it  would  have 
been  very  easy  to  have  warned  Hooker  that  he  was 
liable  to  arrest,  and  to  have  given  him  an  opportu 
nity  to  get  away  from  Washington  without  discredit, 
I  never  saw  Hooker  again  until  long  after  the  war, 
whenhe  was  living  at  theBrevoort  House,  New  York, 
where  I  was  then  in  the  habit  of  dining.  His  mind 
had  become  somewhat  shaken  by  sickness,  and  the 
long  and  painful  strain  of  years  of  strenuous  ser 
vice.  Apparently  he  never  saw  me  without  a  quick 
ening  of  his  memory  of  Chancellorsville,  the  Presi 
dent,  and  what  came  after.  In  a  loud  voice,  which 
astonished  the  quiet  diners  at  the  Brevoort,he  would 
at  once  discourse  of  his  misfortunes  and  wrongs,  and 
speak  of  certain  public  men,  civil  and  military,  in 
the  most  violent  and  abusive  terms.  After  a  while, 
so  habitual  was  this  lecture,  which  poor  Hooker 
seemed  to  address  to  the  company  in  general,  I 
was  obliged  to  take  a  table  in  a  corner  of  the  din 
ing-room  as  far  as  possible  from  him.  He  has 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  61 

long  since  passed  off  the  stage  of  action,  but  no 
one  who  knew  him  in  his  prime  can  fail  to  recall 
him  to  mind  as  one  of  the  most  picturesque  per 
sonalities  of  the  war ;  one  of  the  brightest  figures 
in  that  long  and  fast-fading  panorama  that  reached 
from  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  to  the  burial  of 
Lincoln  at  Springfield. 

EXCLUSIVE    INFORMATION 

IN  spite  of  a  rigorous  censorship  of  the  wires,  mili 
tary  matters  did  sometimes  get  out  of  Washington 
in  the  most  inexplicable  manner,  eluding  the  stern 
authority  in  the  telegraph  office.  When  it  was 
decided  to  reinforce  Eosecrans,  in  1863,  with  the 
Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  an  officer  of  the  War  Department  went  to 
every  newspaper  correspondent  in  the  city,  and  re 
quested  them,  at  the  special  desire  of  the  Presi 
dent  and  the  Secretary  of  War,  not  to  make  any 
mention  of  the  proposed  movement.  The  corre 
spondents  all  agreed  to  this,  and  telegraphed  or 
wrote  to  their  newspapers  not  to  refer  to  the  matter, 
should  it  come  to  their  knowledge  in  any  way.  But 
one  night  (September  26)  everybody  was  astonished 
by  news  from  New  York  that  the  u  Evening  Post," 
an  unconditional  supporter  of  the  Administration, 
had  published  full  particulars  of  the  reinforcement 
of  Eosecrans  by  the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Army 
Corps  under  Hooker.  The  Washington  Sunday 
morning  papers  copied  the  intelligence,  and  a  Phila 
delphia  paper,  saying  that  the  news  was  "  contra 
band,"  suggested  that  the  editors  of  the  New  York 


62  WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

"  Evening  Post "  should  breakfast  in  Fort  Lafay 
ette.  It  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  muddled  con 
dition  of  things  at  that  time,  that  the  Monday 
morning  papers  in  Washington  discreetly  held  their 
peace,  and  printed  not  a  word  of  news  or  com 
ment  concerning  the  whole  affair.  The  "  Evening 
Post  "explained  its  position  by  saying  that  its  Wash 
ington  correspondent  was  not  responsible  for  the 
11  rumors  "  which  had  appeared  in  its  Saturday  edi 
tion,  and  that  the  paper  had  been  imposed  upon  by 
others.  When  this  comical  imbroglio  began,  the 
Washington  correspondents  were  in  despair.  Stan- 
ton  raged  like  a  lion,  and  Lincoln,  I  am  bound  to 
say,  was  exceedingly  angry. 

The  "Evening  Post,"  in  its  zeal  to  secure  the  earli 
est  information,  more  than  once  got  itself  or  its 
correspondents  into  trouble.  When  it  was  known 
that  the  President  had  written  a  letter  to  the  Ee- 
publican  mass-meeting  to  be  held  in  Springfield, 
Illinois,  September  3,  1863,  there  was  a  great  stir 
among  the  newspaper  men  in  Washington,  every 
correspondent  being  anxious  to  get  an  advance 
copy  of  so  important  a  document.  The  Peace 
Democrats  of  Illinois,  and  indeed  throughout  the 
West,  were  then  in  a  state  of  furious  and  threat 
ening  wrath.  Senator  Richardson  of  Illinois  had 
addressed  a  meeting  at  Springfield  that  summer  in 
a  most  hysterical  and  blood-curdling  manner,  and 
the  meeting  adopted  resolutions  denouncing  "  mis 
rule  and  anarchy,"  and  declaring  in  favor  of  "  peace 
upon  the  basis  of  restoration  of  the  Union."  That 
the  President  of  the  United  States  should  consent 
to  write  a  letter  to  a  convocation  gotten  up  in  his 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  63 

own  State  by  way  of  a  counterblast  to  this  traitor 
ous  demonstration  was  enough  to  stimulate  to  the 
highest  pitch  the  desire  of  every  journalist  to  secure 
an  early  copy  of  the  document.  But  to  all  impor 
tunities  the  President  and  his  secretaries  were  deaf; 
and  the  paper,  which  was  dated  August  26,  1863, 
was  sent  out  of  the  White  House,  it  was  said,  by  a 
private  messenger.  Nevertheless,  several  days  be 
fore  the  meeting  of  the  Springfield  assemblage,  the 
letter  appeared  in  full  in  the  New  York  u  Evening 
Post,"  and  to  our  great  amusement  was  telegraphed 
back  to  Washington,  and  printed  in  that  city  be 
fore  it  could  be  publicly  read  in  Springfield.  This 
was  the  famous  letter,  which  has  since  become 
a  political  classic,  in  which  occurred  the  unique 
phrase,  "Uncle  Sam's  web- feet,"  and  in  which 
the  good  President  said,  "  The  signs  look  better," 
"  the  Father  of  Waters  again  goes  unvexed  to  the 
sea,"  etc. 

So  far  as  I  know,  the  method  by  which  the 
"Evening  Post"  got  possession  of  a  copy  of  that 
letter  has  never  been  made  public.  It  was  not  an 
offense  against  military  law,  of  course,  to  print  it, 
as  it  was  a  political  and  not  military  piece  of  in 
formation,  but  I  remember  that  Lincoln  said  he 
was  "  mad  enough  to  cry."  He  had  refused  a  copy 
of  his  letter  to  the  Washington  agent  of  the  As 
sociated  Press,  explaining  that  although  solemn 
promises  not  to  publish  had  repeatedly  been  given, 
he  found  that  the  practice  of  furnishing  advance 
copies  of  anything  to  the  newspapers  was  a  source 
of  endless  mischief.  He  was  sorry  to  say  that  he 
could  not  always  depend  upon  even  the  most  im- 


64  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

press! ve  promises  of  those  who  besieged  him  for 
"early  and  exclusive"  information. 


AN   INTERRUPTED    SEANCE 

THE  most  terrifying  threat  that  could  be  held 
over  a  zealous  war-correspondent  was  that  of  ar 
rest  and  confinement  in  the  old  Capitol  prison. 
Every  person  who  spent  much  time  in  Washington 
during  the  war  will  recall  with  mingled  amusement 
and  dread  the  freedom  with  which  this  threat  was 
bandied  about  among  people  who  were  not  by  any 
means  authorized  to  promote  the  rapid  transit  of 
anybody  to  that  malodorous  Bastille.  Let  me  give 
an  instance  in  which,  though  one  of  the  unauthor 
ized,  I  made  use  of  this  fear-compelling  threat.  A 
seamstress  employed  in  the  White  House  had  in 
duced  Mrs.  Lincoln  to  listen  to  the  artful  tales  of 
a  so-called  spiritual  medium  who  masqueraded  un 
der  the  name  of  Colchester,  and  who  pretended  to 
be  the  illegitimate  son  of  an  English  duke.  The 
poor  lady  at  that  time  was  well-nigh  distraught 
with  grief  at  the  death  of  her  son  Willie.  By  play 
ing  on  her  motherly  sorrows,  Colchester  actually 
succeeded  in  inducing  Mrs.  Lincoln  to  receive  him 
in  the  family  residence  at  the  Soldiers'  Home, 
where,  in  a  darkened  room,  he  pretended  to  pro 
duce  messages  from  the  dead  boy  by  means  of 
scratches  on  the  wainscoting  and  taps  on  the  walls 
and  furniture.  Mrs.  Lincoln  told  me  of  these  so- 
called  manifestations,  and  asked  me  to  be  present 
in  the  White  House  when  Colchester  would  give 
an  exhibition  of  his  powers.  I  declined  ;  but  mean- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  65 

while  I  received  an  invitation  to  invest  one  dollar 
and  attend  "  a  Colchester  sitting  "  at  the  house  of  a 
Washington  gentleman  who  was  a  profound  be 
liever  in  this  pretentious  seer.  To  gratify  my  curi 
osity,  I  paid  the  entrance  fee,  and,  accompanied 
by  a  trusty  friend,  went  to  the  seance.  After  the 
company  had  been  seated  around  the  table  in  the 
usual  approved  manner,  and  the  lights  were  turned 
out,  the  silence  was  broken  by  the  thumping  of  a 
drum,  the  twanging  of  a  banjo,  and  the  ringing  of 
bells,  all  of  which  instruments  had  been  laid  on 
the  table,  ready  for  use.  By  some  hocus-pocus,  it 
was  evident,  the  operator  had  freed  his  hands  from 
the  hands  of  those  who  sat  on  each  side  of  him, 
and  was  himself  making  "  music  in  the  air."  Loos 
ening  my  hands  from  my  neighbors',  who  were  un 
believers,  I  rose,  and,  grasping  in  the  direction  of 
the  drum-beat,  grabbed  a  very  solid  and  fleshy 
hand  in  which  was  held  a  bell  that  was  being 
thumped  on  a  drum-head.  I  shouted,  "  Strike  a 
light ! n  My  friend,  after  what  appeared  to  be  an 
unconscionable  length  of  time,  lighted  a  match; 
but  meanwhile  somebody  had  dealt  me  a  severe 
blow  with  the  drum,  the  edge  of  which  cut  a  slight 
wound  on  my  forehead.  When  the  gas  was  finally 
lighted,  the  singular  spectacle  was  presented  of 
"the  son  of  the  duke"  firmly  grasped  by  a  man 
whose  forehead  was  covered  with  blood,  while  the 
arrested  scion  of  nobility  was  glowering  at  the 
drum  and  bells  which  he  still  held  in  his  hands. 
The  meeting  broke  up  in  the  most  admired  dis 
order,  "  Lord  Colchester  "  slipping  out  of  the  room 
in  the  confusion.  His  host  subsequently  brought 


66  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

down  word  from  the  discomfited  seer  to  the  effect 
that  Colchester  was  "so  outraged  by  this  insult" 
that  he  refused  to  reappear! 

A  day  or  two  after  this,  I  was  astonished  by  a 
note  from  Mrs.  Lincoln  requesting  me  to  come  to 
the  White  House  without  a  moment's  delay,  on  a 
matter  of  the  most  distressing  importance.  On  my 
arrival,  the  lady,  somewhat  discomposed,  showed  me 
a  note  from  "Colchester,"  in  which  he  requested 
that  she  should  procure  for  him  from  the  War  De 
partment  a  pass  to  New  York,  and  intimated  that 
in  case  she  refused  he  might  have  some  unpleasant 
things  to  say  to  her.  We  made  an  arrangement 
by  which  Colchester  came  to  the  White  House  at  a 
specified  hour  the  next  day,  and  after  I  had  been 
formally  introduced  to  the  charlatan,  Mrs.  Lincoln 
withdrew  from  the  room.  Going  up  to  Colchester, 
I  lifted  the  hair  from  the  scar  on  my  forehead,  yet 
unhealed,  and  said,  "Do  you  recognize  this?"  The 
man  muttered  something  about  his  having  been  in 
sulted,  and  then  I  said :  "  You  know  that  I  know 
you  are  a  swindler  and  a  humbug.  Get  out  of  this 
house  and  out  of  this  city  at  once.  If  you  are  in 
Washington  to-morrow  afternoon  at  this  time,  you 
will  be  in  the  old  Capitol  prison."  The  little  scamp 
pulled  himself  together  and  sneaked  out  of  the 
house,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  out  of  Washington. 
I  never  saw  or  heard  of  him  afterward. 

SOCIAL  INCIDENTS 

THE  White  House  did  not  witness  many  brilliant 
festivities  during  the  war,  after  that  famous  party 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  67 

which  was  given  by  the  President  and  Mrs.  Lincoln 
early  in  the  first  year  of  the  Lincoln  administra 
tion.  But  Mrs.  Lincoln's  afternoon  receptions  and 
the  President's  public  levees  were  held  regularly 
during  the  winters.  Nothing  could  be  more  dem 
ocratic  than  these  gatherings  of  the  people  at  the 
White  House.  They  were  usually  held  twice  a 
week  during  the  winter,  those  on  Tuesday  even 
ings  being  so-called  dress  receptions,  and  the  Satur 
day  levees  being  less  formal  in  character.  A  ma 
jority  of  the  visitors  went  in  full  dress  :  the  ladies 
in  laces,  feathers,  silks,  and  satins,  without  bon 
nets;  and  the  gentlemen  in  evening  dress.  But 
sprinkled  through  the  gaily  attired  crowds  were 
hundreds  of  officers  and  private  soldiers,  the  light- 
blue  army  coat  of  the  period  being  a  conspicuous 
feature  of  the  moving  panorama.  Here  and  there 
a  day-laborer,  looking  as  though  he  had  just  left 
his  work-bench,  or  a  hard-working  clerk  with  ink- 
stained  linen,  added  to  the  popular  character  of 
the  assembly.  Usually  the  President  stood  in  the 
famous  Blue  Room,  or  at  the  head  of  the  East 
Room;  and  those  who  wished  to  shake  hands  made 
their  entrance,  one  by  one,  and  were  introduced  by 
the  functionary  detailed  for  that  occasion.  So  vast 
were  the  crowds,  and  so  affectionate  their  greet 
ings,  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  right  hand  was  often  so 
swollen  that  he  would  be  unable  to  use  it  readily  for 
hours  afterward;  and  the  white  kid  glove  of  his 
right  hand,  when  the  operation  of  handshaking 
was  over,  always  looked  as  if  it  had  been  dragged 
through  a  dust-bin.  Much  of  the  time,  I  think, 
the  President  never  heard  with  his  inner  ear  the 


68  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

names  of  persons  presented  to  him  by  Secretary 
Nicolay,  Commissioner  French,  or  United  States 
Marshal  Lamon.  His  thoughts  were  apt  to  be  far 
from  the  crowds  of  strangers  that  passed  before 
him.  On  one  occasion,  bringing  up  a  friend,  I 
greeted  the  President  as  usual,  and  presented  my 
friend.  The  President  shook  hands  with  me  in  a 
perfunctory  way,  his  eyes  fixed  on  space,  and  I 
passed  on,  knowing  that  he  had  never  seen  me  or 
heard  the  name  of  my  friend;  but  after  I  had 
reached  a  point  seven  or  eight  persons  beyond,  the 
President  suddenly  seemed  to  see  me,  and,  continu 
ing  the  handshaking  of  strangers  while  he  spoke, 
shouted  out :  "  Oh,  Brooks !  Charley  Maltby  is  in 
town,  and  I  want  you  to  come  and  see  me  to-mor 
row."  Maltby,  it  may  be  said,  was  an  old  friend  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  then  living  in  California,  and  about 
whose  petition  for  a  federal  appointment  the  Presi 
dent  wished  to  talk  with  me.  Lincoln's  sudden 
outburst,  naturally  enough,  astonished  the  people 
who  heard  it. 

While  the  President  and  his  party  were  with  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  at  the  time  previously  referred 
to,  pleasant  collations  were  occasionally  served  at 
the  headquarters  of  the  various  corps  commanders 
whose  troops  were  being  reviewed.  At  a  luncheon 
given  by  General  Sickles  at  his  headquarters,  among 
the  ladies  present  was  the  Princess  Salm-Salm, 
whose  husband  was  a  staff-officer  in  the  army.  This 
lady  attracted  much  admiration  by  her  graceful  and 
dashing  riding  in  the  cavalcade  that  attended  the 
reviews.  Before  her  marriage  she  was  a  Miss  Joyall 
of  Philipsburg.  It  was  this  remarkable  woman  who 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  69 

astonished  the  President,  on  his  entering  General 
Sickles's  headquarters,  by  flying  at  him,  and  im 
printing  a  bouncing  kiss  on  his  surprised  and  not 
altogether  attractive  face.  As  soon  as  he  could 
collect  himself  and  recover  from  his  astonishment, 
the  President  thanked  the  lady,  but  with  evident 
discomposure  ;  whereupon  some  of  the  party  made 
haste  to  explain  that  the  Princess  Salm-Salm  had 
laid  a  wager  with  one  of  the  officers  that  she  would 
kiss  the  President.  Her  audacious  sally  won  her  a 
box  of  gloves. 

I  have  called  the  princess  remarkable ;  and  her 
career  certainly  deserves  a  parenthetical  note,  for 
she  was  a  conspicuous  figure  in  some  social  circles 
of  Washington  during  Lincoln's  time.  Her  parents 
were  of  humble  origin,  living  in  Philipsburg,  at  the 
Canadian  end  of  Lake  Champlain,  called  Missisquoi 
Bay.  The  girl  earned  her  living  by  service  among 
the  neighboring  farmers,  but  subsequently  became 
an  actress  in  a  strolling  company  of  players.  From 
this  time  her  life  was  picturesque  and  varied.  It 
was  said  that  her  well-known  skill  and  deftness  in 
the  care  and  management  of  horses  were  acquired 
when  she  was  a  circus-rider ;  at  that  period  of  her 
checkered  career  she  was  billed  as  "  Miss  Leclerq." 
Prince  Salm-Salm  served  as  a  volunteer  staff-officer 
during  our  war,  after  which  he  and  his  wife  went  to 
Mexico,  where  they  identified  themselves  with  the 
failing  cause  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian.  The  lady 
narrated  her  remarkable  adventures  in  Mexico  in  a 
bright  book,  and  the  couple  returned  to  Austria, 
whence  the  prince  had  been  previously  expelled  on 
account  of  his  profligate  habits,  but  where  he  was 


70  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

now  made  welcome  and  was  given  a  pension  and  a 
post  in  one  of  the  royal  palaces  near  Vienna.  It  was 
subsequently  reported  that  this  American  princess 
joined  herself  to  the  French  forces  under  the  Geneva 
cross,  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  and  that  her  hus 
band  was  killed  while  fighting  on  the  same  side  at 
the  battle  of  Gravelotte. 

During  the  war  the  proportion  of  civilians  to  those 
who  wore  the  trappings  of  the  army  and  navy  was 
so  small  that  men  felt  it  almost  a  distinction  to  wear 
the  ordinary  evening  dress.  An  order  from  the  War 
Department  forbidding  military  officers  to  come  to 
Washington  without  leave  did  not  by  any  means 
abate  what  was  felt  to  be  a  great  nuisance.  Too 
many  officers  haunted  the  lobbies  of  the  Capitol  in 
search  of  political  aid  to  secure  for  them  the  promo 
tions  that  they  desired,  or  the  passage  of  bills  in 
which  military  or  naval  officers  had  special  interest. 
I  saw  a  curious  example  of  military  absenteeism  one 
night  at  Ford's  Theater,  where  I  had  accompanied 
the  President  to  see  Edwin  Booth  in  "The  Merchant 
of  Venice."  The  President  had  sent  word  late  in 
the  afternoon  that  he  would  like  to  have  a  box  for 
himself  and  a  friend ;  but  when  we  arrived  at  the 
theater,  going  in  by  the  stage  entrance,  we  were  met 
by  the  manager,  who  said  that  the  boxes  had  all  been 
taken  before  the  President's  message  had  been  re 
ceived,  but  he  would  use  his  efforts  with  a  party  of 
officers,  as  soon  as  they  arrived,  to  induce  them  to 
give  up  a  box  which  they  had  engaged.  While  he 
was  speaking,  an  usher  came  behind  the  scenes,  and 
said  that  the  officers  had  very  willingly  relinquished 
their  box  for  the  pleasure  of  the  President.  Between 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  71 

the  acts  the  manager  came  to  pay  his  respects  to  the 
President,  and  to  inquire  for  his  comfort,  and  Lin 
coln  asked  for  the  names  of  the  military  gentlemen 
who  had  so  kindly  given  up  their  evening's  enter 
tainment  in  his  behalf.  The  manager  replied  that  he 
did  not  know,  but  he  afterward  quietly  told  me  that 
he  knew  that  one  half  of  the  number  were  officers 
absent  from  the  army  without  leave,  and  that  they 
considered  it  a  good  joke  that  they  could  escape 
the  President's  observation  at  the  cost  of  relinquish 
ing  their  box  at  the  theater.  The  manager  shrewdly 
guessed  that  the  President  had  asked  for  their 
names  in  order  to  discover  if  they  were  in  Wash 
ington  on  leave ;  but  that  was  not  Lincoln's  way. 
President  Lincoln's  theater -going  was  usually 
confined  to  occasions  when  Shakspere's  plays  were 
enacted ;  for,  although  he  enjoyed  a  hearty  laugh, 
he  was  better  pleased  with  the  stately  dignity,  deep 
philosophy,  and  exalted  poetry  of  Shakspere  than 
with  anything  that  was  to  be  found  in  more  modern 
dramatic  writings.  But  I  remember  a  delightful 
evening  that  we  once  spent  at  the  old  Washington 
Theater,  where  we  saw  Mrs.  John  Wood  in  John 
Brougham's  travesty  of  "  Pocahontas."  The  deli 
cious  absurdity  and  crackling  puns  of  the  piece  gave 
the  President  food  for  mirth  for  many  days  there 
after.  At  another  time  we  saw  Edwin  Forrest  in 
"  King  Lear,"  and  the  President  appeared  to  be  more 
impressed  by  the  acting  of  John  McCullough,  in  the 
role  of  Edgar,  than  with  the  great  tragedian's  ap 
pearance  as  the  mad  king.  He  asked  that  McCul 
lough  might  come  to  the  box  between  the  acts ;  and 
when  the  young  actor  was  brought  to  the  door,  clad 


72  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

in  his  fantastic  garb  of  rags  and  straw,  Mr.  Lincoln 
warmly,  and  yet  with  diffidence,  praised  the  per 
formance  of  the  scene  in  which  he  had  just  appeared. 
It  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  delight  to  sally  forth  in  the 
darkness,  on  foot,  and,  accompanied  only  by  a  friend, 
to  visit  some  theater  to  which  notice  of  his  coming 
had  been  sent  only  just  before  his  setting  out.  When 
we  consider  that  it  was  popularly  believed  that 
Washington  at  that  time  was  infested  with  spies  and 
midnight  assassins,  we  may  well  wonder  at  his  te 
merity.  But  perhaps  it  was  the  unexpectedness  and 
lack  of  advertisement  of  his  movements  that  may 
have  induced  him  to  undertake  these  little  excur 
sions.  It  was  the  wide  publicity  given  to  his  inten 
tion  to  go  to  the  play  that  wrought  his  own  undoing 
in  1865.  Those  who  are  disposed  to  consider  that 
Lincoln  exhibited  a  frivolous  side  of  his  character 
by  his  play-going  should  reflect  that  the  theater  was 
almost  the  only  place  where  he  could  escape  from 
the  clamor  of  office-seekers,  and  for  a  moment  unfix 
his  thoughts  from  the  cares  and  anxieties  that 
weighed  upon  his  spirit  with  dreadful  oppressive 
ness.  Official  etiquette  forbids  the  President  of  the 
United  States  the  social  pleasures  outside  of  his 
house  which  a  less  exalted  functionary  or  a  private 
citizen  may  enjoy.  In  Lincoln's  case,  more  than  in 
that  of  any  other  who  has  held  the  presidential  office, 
there  was  abundant  justification  of  his  seeking  for 
opportunities  to  escape  from  the  stately  prison-house 
of  the  official  residence. 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  73 


PUBLIC   EXERCISES   AT  THE   CAPITOL 

ONE  of  the  most  charming  figures  in  semi-public 
life  in  Washington  during  the  war  was  Miss  Anna 
Dickinson,  then  in  the  first  flush  of  her  success  as 
an  eloquent  speaker.  Her  first  appearance  in  Janu 
ary,  1864,  was  a  grand  triumph  for  a  young  woman 
just  beginning  her  long  and  picturesque  career. 
She  was  invited  by  a  host  of  distinguished  men  (at 
the  head  of  the  list  being  Vice-President  Hamlin 
and  Speaker  Colfax)  to  address  the  people  in  the 
Hall  of  Representatives.  The  great  room  was 
crowded,  and  the  house  never  looked  gayer  than  it 
did  that  evening,  bright  as  it  was  with  the  velvets, 
flowers,  and  brilliant  colors  of  a  great  company  of 
society  women.  Miss  Dickinson  was  accompanied 
to  the  platform  by  the  Vice-President  and  the 
Speaker,  and  was  introduced  by  the  former,  who 
likened  her  to  Joan  of  Arc.  Dressed  in  black  silk, 
with  a  touch  of  color  at  her  throat,  her  wavy  black 
hair  in  short  redundant  curls,  Anna  Dickinson  made 
a  figure  long  to  be  remembered  as  she  slowly  paced 
to  and  fro  on  the  platform,  dropping  her  well- 
formed  and  compact  sentences  upon  the  people 
below.  Lincoln  was  present,  and  incidentally  the 
fair  orator  introduced  a  striking  and  encomiastic 
allusion  to  the  chief  magistrate,  and  the  vast  audi 
ence  applauded  with  tremendous  enthusiasm.  In 
the  following  March,  however,  the  lady  changed 
her  mind,  as  ladies  may,  and  in  a  speech  delivered 
at  drover's  Theater  "raked  the  Lincoln  adminis 
tration  fore  and  aft."  But  later  on  she  experienced 


74  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

a  change  of  heart,  and  forsook  Fremont,  who  had 
been  her  idol  for  a  time,  and  paid  a  very  beautiful 
tribute  to  the  new  administration  of  Lincoln.  Her 
last  appearance  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
was  very  soon  after  Lincoln's  second  inauguration. 
Those  who  were  present  on  that  4th  of  March,  1865, 
may  remember  that  just  as  the  President  took  the 
oath  of  office,  the  sun,  which  had  been  obscured  by 
clouds,  burst  forth,  and  its  golden  beams  fell  upon 
the  distinguished  group  assembled  on  the  Capitol 
steps.  Lincoln  next  day  asked  me  if  I  had  noticed 
the  sunburst,  and  then  went  on  to  say  that  he  was 
just  superstitious  enough  to  consider  it  a  happy 
omen.  In  the  address  above  referred  to,  Miss  Dick 
inson  also  referred  to  the  breaking  of  the  clouds, 
and  in  touching  and  inspiring  words  pictured  the 
dispersion  of  the  gloom  that  lowered  over  the  coun 
try.  The  President  sat  directly  in  front  of  the 
platform  from  which  Miss  Dickinson  spoke.  Be 
fore  she  began,  he  had  recognized  me  as  I  sat  in 
the  reporters'  gallery  over  the  platform ;  and  when 
the  speaker  alluded  to  the  sunburst,  he  looked  up 
at  me  and  deliberately  winked. 

The  National  Capitol  witnessed  a  novel  sight  in 
the  early  spring  of  1863,  when  a  wedding  was 
solemnized  in  the  great  Hall  of  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives.  So  far  as  I  know,  this  was  the  only 
bridal  ceremony  ever  conducted  within  the  walls  of 
the  legislative  chamber.  It  took  place  on  a  Sun 
day.  The  high  contracting  parties  were  Miss  Rurn- 
sey  and  Mr.  Fowler,  two  members  of  the  choir  that 
led  the  singing  in  the  House  of  Representatives  for 
the  religious  services  held  in  the  House  during  the 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  75 

old  war  days.  That  was  a  "star"  occasion;  for 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Stockton  (a  half -brother  of  Frank  R. 
Stockton,  the  author)  on  that  day  closed  a  long  term 
of  service  as  chaplain  of  the  House,  and  preached 
a  farewell  sermon  full  of  interesting  historical 
reminiscences.  Dr.  Stockton  had  held  the  post  of 
chaplain  of  the  House  during  the  administrations 
of  Andrew  Jackson  and  Martin  Van  Buren,  and  his 
reminiscent  discourse  was  a  valuable  contribution 
to  the  history  of  Washington  in  earlier  years.  The 
bride  and  bridegroom  were  well  known  as  the  man 
agers  of  one  of  the  most  admirable  beneficences  of 
the  time — the  Soldiers'  Free  Library — and  the  Hall 
of  the  House  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity, 
and  hundreds  went  away  disappointed  of  entrance. 
The  bride  wore  upon  her  corsage  a  big  knot  of  red, 
white,  and  blue  ribbons,  and  after  the  ceremony 
had  been  concluded,  some  inconsiderate  patriot 
loudly  called  for  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner." 
The  newly-made  bride  graciously  consented,  and 
the  audience  joined  in  the  chorus  with  tremen 
dous  effect  until  the  vast  Hall  rang  with  music  and 
enthusiasm.  Even  in  those  fiery  days,  song-sing 
ing  and  loud  cheering  in  the  national  capitol  were 
a  novelty.  The  Hall  of  the  House  was  much  more 
readily  given  for  purposes  other  than  legislative 
than  it  has  been  since. 

LINCOLN'S  MEMORY 

A  NOTABLE  meeting  was  held  in  the  hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  January,  1865,  when 
the  United  States  Christian  Commission  held  its 


76  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

anniversary  exercises.  Secretary  Seward  presided, 
and  made  a  delightful  address.  As  an  example  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  wonderful  power  of  memory,  I  noticed 
that  a  few  days  after  that  meeting  in  the  Capitol  he 
recalled  an  entire  sentence  of  Mr.  Seward's  speech, 
and,  so  far  as  I  could  remember,  without  missing  a 
word.  This  faculty  was  apparently  exercised  with 
out  the  slightest  effort  on  his  part.  He  "  could  n't 
help  remembering,"  he  was  accustomed  to  say.  One 
would  suppose  that  in  the  midst  of  the  worries  and 
cares  of  office  his  mind  would  become  less  retentive 
of  matters  not  immediately  related  to  the  duties  of 
the  hour.  But  this  was  not  the  fact.  Although  the 
memories  of  long  past  events,  and  words  long  since 
read  or  heard,  appeared  to  be  impossible  of  oblitera 
tion,  more  recently  acquired  impressions  remained 
just  as  fixed  as  the  older  ones.  One  of  my  cousins, 
John  Holmes  Goodenow,  of  Alfred,  Maine,  was 
appointed  minister  to  Turkey  early  in  the  Lincoln 
administration,  and  was  taken  to  the  White  House, 
before  his  departure  for  his  post,  to  be  presented  to 
the  President.  When  Lincoln  learned  that  his  vis 
itor  was  a  grandson  of  John  Holmes,  one  of  the  first 
senators  from  Maine,  and  a  man  of  note  in  his  day 
and  generation,  he  immediately  began  the  recitation 
of  a  poetical  quotation  which  must  have  been  more 
than  a  hundred  lines  in  length.  Mr.  Holmes,  never 
having  met  the  President,  was  naturally  astonished 
at  this  outburst ;  and  as  the  President  went  on  and 
on  with  this  long  recitation,  the  suspicion  crossed 
his  mind  that  Lincoln  had  suddenly  taken  leave  of 
his  wits.  But  when  the  lines  had  been  finished,  the 
President  said :  "  There  !  that  poem  was  quoted  by 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN^  TIME  77 

your  grandfather  Holmes  in  a  speech  which  he  made 
in  the  United  States  Senate  in  — "  and  he  named 
the  date  and  specified  the  occasion.  As  John 
Holmes's  term  in  the  Senate  ended  in  1833,  and  Lin 
coln  probably  was  impressed  by  reading  a  copy  of 
the  speech  rather  than  by  hearing  it,  this  feat  of 
memory  appears  very  remarkable. 

Lincoln's  power  of  memory  was  certainly  very 
great ;  if  he  had  been  by  any  casualty  deprived  of 
his  sight,  his  own  memory  would  have  supplied  him 
with  an  ample  and  varied  library.  He  used  to  say 
that  it  was  no  evidence  of  his  partiality  for  a  bit  of 
literature  that  he  remembered  it  for  a  long  time. 
For  example,  he  once  recited  to  me  a  long  and  dole 
ful  ballad,  the  production  of  a  rural  Kentucky  bard, 
composed  in  the  vein  of  "  Vilikins  and  his  Dinah," 
and  when  he  had  finished,  he  added,  with  a  depre 
catory  laugh,  "  I  don't  believe  I  have  thought  of 
that  before  for  forty  years." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  manner  toward  enlisted  men,  with 
whom  he  occasionally  met  and  talked,  was  always 
delightful  in  its  bonhomie  and  its  absolute  freedom 
from  anything  like  condescension.  Then,  at  least, 
the  "  common  soldier "  was  the  equal  of  the  chief 
magistrate  of  the  nation.  One  day  in  the  latter  part 
of  March,  1863,  I  was  at  the  White  House  with  the 
President,  and  he  told  me  to  tarry  for  a  while,  as  a 
party  of  Ohio  soldiers  who  had  been  lately  exchanged 
after  many  harassing  experiences  were  coming  to 
see  him.  It  appeared  that  these  were  the  surviv 
ors  of  what  was  then  known  as  the  Marietta  raid. 
Twenty-one  men  from  Ohio  regiments  of  the  com 
mand  of  General  0.  M.  Mitchel,  then  in  northern 


78  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

Alabama,  were  sent  on  a  dangerous  mission  to  de 
stroy  the  railroad  communications  of  Chattanooga 
to  the  south  and  east.  The  expedition  failed,  and 
of  the  original  number  only  six  returned  to  Wash 
ington,  after  incredible  hardships  and  suffering, — 
one  third  of  the  party  having  escaped,  and  another 
fraction  having  been  hanged  as  spies,  the  rebel  au 
thorities  deciding  that  the  fact  that  these  men  wore 
citizen's  clothes  within  an  enemy's  lines  put  them 
in  that  category. 

The  men,  who  were  introduced  to  the  President 
by  General  E.  A.  Hitchcock,  then  on  duty  in  Wash 
ington,  were  Mason,  Parrott,  Pittenger,  Buffum, 
Eeddick,  and  Bensinger.  Their  names  were  given 
to  the  President,  and,  without  missing  the  identity 
of  a  single  man,  he  shook  hands  all  round  with  an 
unaffected  cordiality  and  good-fellowship  difficult 
to  describe.  He  had  heard  their  story  in  all  its  de 
tails,  and  as  he  talked  with  each,  asking  questions 
and  making  his  shrewd  comments  on  what  they 
had  to  say,  it  was  evident  that  for  the  moment  this 
interesting  interview  was  to  him  of  supreme  im 
portance.  At  that  time  we  had  great  difficulty  in 
effecting  exchanges  of  prisoners,  and  General  Hitch 
cock  had  compiled  a  series  of  papers  of  startling 
importance  bearing  on  the  question.  The  stories 
of  these  long-suffering  men,  and  the  cheerful  light 
ness  with  which  they  narrated  their  courageous 
and  hazardous  deeds,  impressed  Mr.  Lincoln  very 
deeply.  Speaking  of  the  men  afterward,  he  said, 
with  much  feeling,  that  their  bearing,  and  their  ap 
parent  unconsciousness  of  having  taken  their  lives 
in  their  hands,  with  the  chances  of  death  all  against 
them,  presented  an  example  of  the  apparent  disregard 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  79 

of  the  tremendous  issues  of  life  and  death  which  was 
so  strong  a  characteristic  of  the  American  soldier. 

One  of  Lincoln's  favorite  poems  was  Holmes's 
"  The  Last  Leaf";  and  one  November  day  we  were 
driving  out  to  the  Soldiers'  Home,  near  Washing 
ton,  when  the  aspect  of  the  scene  recalled  the  lines 
to  his  mind.  Slowly  and  with  excellent  judgment 
he  recited  the  whole  poem.  Enlarging  upon  the 
pathos,  wit,  and  humor  of  Holmes,  I  found  that  the 
President  had  never  seen  a  copy  of  the  genial  doc 
tor's  works,  so  far  as  he  could  remember,  although 
he  was  not  certain  that  he  had  not.  I  offered  to 
lend  him  my  copy  of  the  poems,  a  little  blue-and- 
gold  book ;  and  the  next  time  I  went  to  the  White 
House  I  took  it  with  me.  About  a  week  after  leav 
ing  the  book  with  the  President,  I  called  at  the 
house  one  evening,  and,  finding  him  alone,  we  set 
tled  down  for  a  quiet  chat.  He  took  from  a  drawer 
in  his  table  the  blue-and-gold  Holmes,  and  went 
over  the  book  with  much  gusto,  reading  or  reciting 
several  poems  that  had  struck  his  fancy.  He  ex 
pressed  his  surprise  at  finding  that  some  of  the 
verses  which  he  admired  most  had  been  drifting 
about  in  the  newspapers  without  the  name  of  the 
author  attached  to  them;  and  it  was  in  this 
way,  he  said,  that  he  had  found  "  The  Last  Leaf," 
although  he  did  not  know  that  Dr.  Holmes  was  the 
author.  Finally  he  said  that  he  liked  "Lexington" 
as  well  as  anything  in  the  book,  uThe  Last  Leaf" 
alone  excepted,  and  he  began  to  read  the  poem; 
but  when  he  came  to  the  stanza  beginning 

Green  he  the  graves  where  her  martyrs  are  lying ! 
Shroudless  'and  tombless  they  sunk  to  their  rest, — 


80  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

his  voice  faltered,  and  lie  gave  me  the  book  with 
the  whispered  request,  "You  read  it;  I  can't." 
Months  afterward,  when  several  ladies  were  in  the 
Red  Parlor  one  evening,  calling  upon  Mrs.  Lincoln, 
he  recited  that  poem  without  missing  a  word,  so 
far  as  I  could  remember  it.  And  yet  I  do  not  be 
lieve  that  he  ever  saw  the  text  of  " Lexington" 
except  during  the  few  busy  days  when  he  had  my 
book. 

I  have  still  in  my  possession  the  blue-and-gold 
Holmes,  Ticknor  &  Fields  edition,  1862,  with  the 
leaf  folded  lengthwise,  as  Lincoln  folded  it  to  mark 
the  place  where  he  found  "  Lexington."  In  a  pref 
ace  written  in  1885  Dr.  Holmes  said  that  "good 
Abraham  Lincoln  had  a  liking  for  '  The  Last  Leaf,' " 
and  that  Governor  Andrew  had  told  the  author 
that  Lincoln  repeated  the  poem  to  him. 


CHAPTER  III 

AFTER   THE   BATTLE  OF   GETTYSBURG 

THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL  UNDER  THE  INFLUENCE  OF 
GOOD  NEWS  —  AFTER  THE  FIGHT  —  LEE'S  ESCAPE 
ACROSS  THE  POTOMAC  AT  FALLING  WATERS  —  LIN 
COLN'S  DISAPPOINTMENT. 

TTNDER  the  influence  of  the  good  news  that 
U  reached  us  in  the  early  weeks  of  July,  1863, 
Washington  was  a  cheerful  place  to  live  in.  There 
had  been  many  months  of  wearying  discourage 
ment  ;  people  had  waited  with  hope  often  deferred 
for  tidings  of  victory  to  the  Union  arms,  and  these 
never  came.  The  battle  of  Gettysburg,  fought  so 
near  the  national  capital,  as  it  seemed  to  us,  was  a 
prodigious  event ;  for,  although  it  was  not  then  re 
garded,  as  it  is  now,  as  the  turning-point  in  the 
war,  even  the  most  cautious  and  conservative  of 
observers  began  to  think  that  it  might  prove  that 
"  beginning  of  the  end  w  which  the  more  sanguine 
had  seen  so  many  times  and  so  many  times  had  de 
spaired  of  realizing. 

But  from  the  southwest  came  tidings  of  great 
joy  to  every  patriotic  heart.  During  the  first  two 
weeks  of  July  we  heard  of  the  fall  of  Port  Hudson, 
the  surrender  at  Vicksburg,  the  opening  of  the  Mis- 


82  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

sissippi  River,  the  renewed  attack  on  Charleston, 
and  other  less  important  successes,  which,  under  or 
dinary  conditions,  would  have  been  eagerly  grasped 
at  as  of  pith  and  moment.  The  single  drop  of  bitter 
ness  in  our  cup  of  joy  was  the  unexpected  flight  of 
Lee's  army  across  the  Potomac  after  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg;  this,  it  was  felt,  was  another  post 
ponement  of  a  long -looked -for  event  —  the  final 
crippling  of  the  army  of  invasion  that  had  so  many 
times  threatened  Washington.  The  first  news  of 
the  capitulation  of  Vicksburg,  by  the  way,  was  re 
ceived  at  the  Navy  Department,  about  noon,  July  7, 
in  a  despatch  from  Admiral  Porter.  Secretary 
Welles  astonished  everybody  who  knew  him  by 
putting  on  his  hat  and  solemnly  proceeding  to  the 
White  House  to  tell  the  news  to  President  Lincoln. 
It  was  said  at  the  time  that  the  Secretary,  on  arriv 
ing  at  the  executive  chamber,  executed  a  double- 
shuffle  and  threw  up  his  hat  by  way  of  showing  that 
he  was  the  bearer  of  glad  tidings.  This  was  a  mere 
invention ;  but  Lincoln  did  say  that  he  never  be 
fore  nor  afterward  saw  Mr.  Welles  so  thoroughly 
excited  as  he  was  then. 

Soon,  however,  Washington  was  straining  its  at 
tention  toward  Maryland,  where,  it  was  popularly 
supposed,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  the 
command  of  General  Meade,  had  at  last "  corralled  " 
Lee  and  all  his  forces,  supplies,  and  guns  in  an 
elbow  of  the  Potomac,  between  Williamsport  and 
Falling  Waters.  After  the  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
railroad  communication  was  again  resumed  between 
the  Relay  House,  on  the  Baltimore  and  Washing 
ton  line,  and  the  town  of  Frederick,  Maryland. 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  83 

This  last-named  place  then  became  the  Union  base 
of  supplies,  and  immense  quantities  of  stores  were 
forwarded  at  once.  We  were  in  almost  hourly  ex 
pectation  of  a  great  battle  which  should  be  fought 
on  Maryland  soil  and  result  in  the  annihilation  of 
the  army  of  Virginia  and  the  hastening  of  the  col 
lapse  of  the  rebellion.  Like  many  others,  I  was 
anxious  to  see  the  expected  end  of  the  rebellion  and 
witness  the  effectual  crushing  of  the  army  that  had 
so  frequently  threatened  Washington  and  so  per 
sistently  protected  the  rebel  capital.  President 
Lincoln  sympathized  with  my  natural  desire  to  see 
the  great  fight,  and  he  not  only  furnished  me  with 
passes  to  the  front,  but  gave  me  letters  to  General 
Meade  and  Adjutant-General  Seth  Williams  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  I  was  intimately  acquainted 
with  General  Ruf  us  Ingalls,  Chief-Quartermaster  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  armed  with  these 
credentials,  I  pressed  forward  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  army  by  the  way  of  Frederick.  On  the  train, 
meeting  with  two  old  friends  from  California,  we 
formed  a  plan  to  hire  horses  in  Frederick  and  so 
make  our  way  up  to  the  devious  verge  of  the  battle 
which  now  seemed  imminent.  All  along  the  route, 
we  passed  immense  trains  of  supplies  of  all  kinds, 
miles  and  miles  of  freight-cars  standing  on  the  track 
loaded  with  forage,  ammunition,  rations,  horses, 
contrabands,  soldiers,  and  all  the  other  means  and 
appliances  which  an  active  army  requires. 

The  streets  of  Frederick  were  alive  with  cavalry, 
infantry,  supply-trains  and  ambulances.  Squads  of 
staff  officers  were  pushing  their  way  through  the 
throngs,  and  here  and  there  the  flag  of  some  divi- 


84  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

sion  commander  denoted  temporary  headquarters. 
The  road  to  Middletown  was  crowded  with  numer 
ous  wagon- trains  and  troops  moving  forward  to  the 
front.  With  considerable  difficulty  we  threaded 
our  way  through  the  masses  of  men,  wagons,  and 
horses,  and  finally  reached  Middletown,  between 
the  Catoctin  and  South  Mountain  ranges.  At  the 
foot  of  South  Mountain  was  a  huge  park  of  supply- 
trains,  which  formed  a  depot  of  commissary  stores 
and  was  the  base  between  the  army  and  the  main 
base  at  Frederick.  As  we  galloped  along  the  open 
spaces  which  intervened  between  the  city  of  Fred 
erick  and  an  army  division  standing  at  rest,  we 
descried  the  body  of  a  man  dangling  by  a  noose 
from  a  limb  of  a  tree  —  a  ghastly  sight.  This  was 
a  spy,  who  had  been  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
for  several  months  peddling  maps  and  singing  army 
songs.  On  his  person  had  been  found,  when  he  was 
arrested,  a  number  of  minute  drawings  of  the  forti 
fications  around  Washington,  a  statement  of  the 
forces  in  the  forts,  etc.,  and  about  $30,000  in  green 
backs.  He  was  tried,  condemned,  and  hanged  as 
a  spy. 

The  comfortable  houses  along  the  roads  were  be 
sieged  by  Union  soldiers  begging  for  fresh  bread, 
milk,  eggs,  and  such  other  articles  as  would  natur 
ally  excite  the  desire  of  men  long  used  to  the  hard 
fare  of  the  army.  There  were,  however,  no  com 
plaints  as  to  any  disorderly  conduct  on  the  part  of 
these  hungry  and  importunate  men.  They  offered 
money  in  payment  for  anything  which  they  re 
ceived,  and  the  Maryland  farmers,  be  it  said  to 
their  credit,  were  invariably  generous  and  liberal 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  85 

to  their  unwelcome  guests.  It  was,  however,  no 
torious  that  some  of  the  Marylanders  who  hung 
out  Union  flags,  and  waved  their  handkerchiefs,  in 
welcome  to  the  blue-coated  soldiers  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  had  been  quite  as  enthusiastic,  not 
many  days  before,  when  the  gray-coated  veterans 
of  Lee  had  passed  that  way.  At  a  house  where 
we  stopped  for  the  night,  the  ladies  of  the  family 
were  ardent  in  their  protestations  of  loyalty  to  the 
Union  and  their  delight  at  the  rebel  defeat  at  Get 
tysburg  ;  but  a  Union  sergeant  from  a  detachment 
of  troops  stationed  near  by  expressed  to  me  his 
strong  desire  to  search  the  house  for  ten  or  twelve 
Confederate  flags,  which  he  and  his  comrades  said 
had  formerly  decorated  the  piazza  and  roof  of  the 
domicile.  But,  for  the  most  part,  Unionism  was 
sincere  and  out-spoken  throughout  all  the  region 
of  Hagerstown,  Boonsboro,  and  Middletown.  We 
met  here  one  Dick  Schackles,  who  was  well-known 
for  his  loyalty  throughout  Western  Maryland.  He 
avowed  himself  a  "  Henry  Clay  Whig,"  and  thanked 
God  that  he  had  never  been  anything  else.  He 
was  jubilant  that  the  time  was  coming,  as  he  said, 
when  the  "  blasted  Locofocos  who  had  baited  the 
rebels  across  the  line  would  be  down,  down,  down 
where  they  belonged."  He  said :  "  We  do  not  call 
them  Copperheads  up  here ;  we  call  them  Locofo 
cos,  and  they  are  the  meanest,  dirtiest  snakes  that 
ever  crawled."  The  profanity  and  abuse  with  which 
he  assaulted  "  the  Locofocos  and  Northern  rebels  " 
was  something  startling.  Dick  Schackles  had  good 
reason  to  speak  ill  of  the  rebels,  for,  having  heard 
of  him  and  his  aggressive  Unionism,  they  were  by 


86  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

no  means  considerate  of  his  property  rights,  or  his 
comforts,  while  they  were  in  that  part  of  the  coun 
try.  But  the  hurrying  and  confusion  of  marching 
and  counter-marching  made  it  impossible  for  either 
array  to  punish  soldiers  guilty  of  outrages. 

The  ruin  and  destruction  that  marked  the  foot 
steps  of  the  armies  were  heartrending  to  behold. 
Fences  were  torn  down,  and  grain  ready  for  the 
reaper  was  trodden  under  foot,  and;  ground  into 
the  rain-drenched  soil  by  army  wagons,  artillery, 
and  the  hoofs  of  cavalry.  All  along  the  roadside, 
as  we  approached  the  headquarters  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  were  stragglers  and  "  bummers," 
some  of  them  barefoot,  many  without  guns,  and 
hundreds  of  them  asleep  in  the  grass  or  under  the 
lee  of  outbuildings.  The  rebel  captives,  whom  we 
occasionally  met  in  droves,  were  generally  good- 
looking  and  well-clad  men,  not  at  all  like  the  scare 
crows  we  had  usually  seen  sent  up  to  Washington 
as  prisoners,  when  our  army  was  in  Virginia.  We 
found  General  Meade's  headquarters  in  a  magnifi 
cent  grove  of  giant  oaks  about  a  mile  south  of 
Boonsboro,  near  Antietam  Creek.  Meade  was  a 
tall,  spare  man,  a  little  past  his  prime,  but  still 
straight  and  wiry ;  he  wore  spectacles  almost  con 
stantly,  had  a  sallow  face,  dark  eyes,  and  dark  hair 
plentifully  sprinkled  with  gray.  He  was  very 
plainly  dressed,  affable  but  not  genial  in  his  man 
ners,  and  usually  reserved  in  speech.  I  noticed 
that  when  he  mounted  or  dismounted  he  moved 
very  stiffly,  without  any  of  that  elasticity  of  motion 
characteristic  of  the  other  officers  of  the  army. 

There  was  about  Meade's  headquarters  a  certain 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  87 

suppressed  excitement,  which  was  the  natural  result 
of  an  expectation  of  another  battle  to  be  fought. 
It  was  known  that  General  Meade  had  received 
several  pressing  messages  from  General  Halleck, 
which,  of  course,  were  inspired  by  President  Lin 
coln,  warning  him  that  the  rebel  army  might  es 
cape  across  the  Potomac  unless  the  Union  forces 
should  speedily  take  the  aggressive.  There  had 
been  several  days  of  tremendous  rain,  and  the  Po 
tomac  and  its  tributary  streams  at  this  point  were 
filled  to  overflowing.  On  the  Sunday  night  before 
our  arrival  at  headquarters,  a  council  of  war  had 
been  held,  and,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  the  vote 
was  against  an  attack.  It  is  a  military  tradition 
that  a  council  of  war  never  fights.  This  one  was 
no  exception  to  the  rule.  Meade's  staff  officers 
were  considerably  disgruntled  by  the  so-called 
Washington  "interference."  Halleck  had  sent  an 
order  to  Meade  in  which  he  directed  the  attention 
of  the  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to 
the  fact  that  it  was  currently  believed  in  Washing 
ton  that  Lee  had  received  pontoons  from  the  south 
of  the  Potomac  and  was  preparing  to  cross ;  and 
he  concluded  his  order  by  saying :  "  The  War  De 
partment  would  again  urge  upon  the  commanding 
genera]  the  importance  of  attacking  the  enemy  as 
soon  as  practicable,  using  that  energy  and  decision 
of  action  which  alone  can  accomplish  so  desirable 
an  end,  the  complete  crippling  of  the  insurgent 
army  in  Maryland."  This  despatch  of  Halleck's 
had  been  printed  in  a  special  order  issued  to  the 
corps  and  division  commanders  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  before  our  arrival,  and  was  then  in 


88  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

their  hands.  The  staff  officers  regarded  the  publi 
cation  of  Meade's  order  as  a  piece  of  satire,  because 
it  not  only  reproduced  portions  of  Halleck's  in 
structions,  but  enjoined  upon  them  "  such  due 
vigor  and  energy  in  action  as  would  result  in  se 
curing  the  end  desired  by  the  country,  and  alluded 
to  in  the  despatch  from  the  War  Department."1 
The  general  feeling  at  headquarters  was  that  Gen 
eral  Meade  (who  was  convinced  that  Lee's  army 
could  not  escape  across  the  Potomac  at  that  time) 
had  scored  rather  a  good  point  on  the  Washington 
authorities  from  the  President  downward. 

Sharing  in  this  general  feeling  of  exultation  and 
expectation,  I  accepted  General  Ingalls's  offer  of  a 
cavalry  horse  and  an  orderly,  and  pushed  forward 
across  the  fields  which  lie  between  Antietam  Creek 

1  This  is  the  exact  language  of  a  printed  circular  given  to  me  at 
General  Meade's  headquarters,  and  quoted  by  me  in  a  newspaper  let 
ter  written  by  me,  dated  July  14,  1863.  No  such  order  can  now  be 
found.  The  nearest  approach  to  it  is  the  following.  See  Official 
Records,  Vol.  XXVII,  part  III,  page  605 : 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  or  THE  POTOMAC,  July  8,  18G3. 

The  following  copies  of  a  despatch  from  the  President  to  the  Major- 
General  commanding,  and  of  the  reply  to  the  same,  are  communicated  to 
corps  commanders,  in  the  earnest  hope  that  they  will  use  their  best  efforts 
to  assist  the  commanding  general  in  meeting  the  wishes  of  the  President. 
By  command  of  Major-General  Meade, 

S.  WILLIAMS, 
Assistant  Adjutant- General. 

\_Inclosurcs.~] 

WASHINGTON,  July  8,  1863.     12 : 30  p.  M. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  MEADE  : 

There  is  reliable  information  that  the  enemy  is  crossing  at  Williams- 
port.  The  opportunity  to  attack  his  divided  forces  should  not  he  lost. 
The  President  is  urgent  and  anxious  that  your  army  should  move  against 
him  by  forced  marches. 

H.  W.  HALLECK, 

General-in-  Chief. 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN^    TIME  89 

above  Boonsboro  and  Sharpsburg  and  the  Hagers- 
to\vn  pike.  This  was  about  noon,  July  14th,  and 
all  that  morning  there  had  been  rumors  of  a  retreat 
of  the  enemy  across  the  Potomac.  General  Ingalls 
was  positive  that  the  Confederate  army  had  made 
good  its  retreat  to  Virginia,  and  some  of  the 
younger  men  at  headquarters  did  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  Meade  had  been  "  most  egregiously  fooled." 
About  twelve  o'clock  noon,  heavy  cannonading 
was  heard  from  the  front  in  the  direction  of  Wil- 
liamsport,  on  the  Potomac,  and  opinions  differed 
as  to  whether  this  was  the  beginning  of  a  general 
engagement  or  was  the  firing  of  Kilpatrick's  and 
Buford's  cavalry  on  the  retreating  flanks  of  the 
rebels.  About  two  miles  from  Antietam  Creek,  we 
came  upon  the  Federal  line  of  intrenchments  (now 
abandoned),  and  found  the  Third  Corps  drawn  up 
in  line  of  battle;  the  Second  and  Fifth  having 
pushed  on  ahead.  We  soon  overtook  those  troops, 
marching  in  three  columns  over  fields  of  grain, 
through  thrifty  orchards,  clover-fields  and  gardens. 
The  ground  was  soft  and  the  country  roads  were 
in  a  dreadful  state  of  mire.  The  movements  of  the 
troops,  however,  were  regardless  of  roads,  and  in 
their  forward  advance  they  manoeuvered  precisely 
as  they  would  through  a  savage  country.  It  was 
rather  entertaining,  on  the  whole,  to  come  into  the 
abandoned  rebel  lines,  as  we  soon  did.  Here  were 
rifle-pits  and  other  hastily  constructed  earthworks ; 
but  not  a  picket  or  a  sentry  was  to  be  seen.  All 
had  "skedaddled"  incontinently,  leaving  behind 
them  the  refuse  of  their  camps.  Here  and  there  I 
found  letters  half -written,  which  the  rebel  soldiers 


90  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

were  inditing  to  friends  at  home  and  had  thrown 
away,  apparently,  in  the  sudden  haste  of  their 
departure.  The  relic-hunter  could  have  collected 
a  museum  of  military  curios  in  these  deserted 
camps.  Fragments  of  army  equipage  and  wearing- 
apparel,  abandoned  horses,  broken  artillery-wagons, 
arid  other  debris,  were  dropped  about  in  picturesque 
confusion.  All  along  the  route  toward  Falling 
Waters  were  disabled  caissons,  wrecked  ambu 
lances  and  army  forges,  muskets,  knapsacks,  and  a 
few  country  wagons,  left  by  the  fleeing  enemy. 
The  cannonading  we  had  heard  at  headquarters 
ceased,  but  a  few  volleys  of  musketry  were  fired 
in  the  vicinity  of  Falling  Waters,  four  miles  below 
Williamsport,  on  the  Potomac.  Striking  into  the 
woods  near  Falling  Waters,  we  came  upon  squads 
of  rebel  prisoners  in  hundreds  or  more,  lying  on 
the  ground  and  guarded  by  a  few  Union  cavalry. 
These  poor  fellows  were  ragged,  wet,  and  muddy, 
many  of  them  having  been  caught  while  in  the 
river  attempting  to  ford  the  stream.  The  roads 
were  choked  with  cavalry,  and  here  and  there  were 
parks  of  artillery  at  rest,  brought  out  on  a  bootless 
errand,  the  drivers  sleeping  under  the  caissons. 

Now  we  learned  that  the  rebels  had  drawn  in 
their  lines  at  about  six  o'clock  that  morning,  the 
main  body  of  the  army  having  previously  crossed 
the  stream  by  means  of  bridges  hastily  thrown 
across.  The  approach  to  the  little  village  of  Fall 
ing  Waters,  Maryland,  was  over  a  hill  which  rose 
sharply  from  the  grain-fields  around  it.  Having 
mounted  this  hill,  one  saw  that  the  roads  passed 
over  gentle  undulations  gradually  sloping  down  to 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  91 

the  river.  On  the  top  of  the  hill,  which  com 
manded  all  these  roads  leading  to  the  river  crossing, 
and  parallel  to  the  stream,  were  a  series  of  light 
earthworks  which  the  rebels  had  occupied  with  a 
rear-guard  of  four  thousand  men,  Early's  division 
of  the  rebel  army.  Behind  the  works  were  still 
passing  out  the  last  of  the  rebels  when  our  forces 
came  up  at  noon  that  day.  Lee  had  finished  here, 
on  the  previous  Saturday,  a  pontoon-bridge  across 
the  Potomac,  and  the  structure,  eked  out  with 
scows,  boats  and  lumber  seized  in  the  vicinity,  was 
standing  when  we  arrived.  It  was  a  very  good 
piece  of  engineering  and  trestle-work.  Here  and 
there  on  the  floor  of  the  bridge  lay  a  dead  soldier, 
and  occasionally  a  gray-coated  body  could  be  seen 
half  in  and  half  out  of  the  water  that  lapped  the 
shore.  The  rebels  who  were  protecting  the  retreat 
of  their  army  in  the  breast-work  on  the  hill,  had 
received  our  cavalry  as  they  charged  up  the  hill 
with  a  volley  which  laid  low  about  twenty  of  our 
men  and  wounded  many  more ;  at  the  same  time, 
a  considerable  force  of  rebel  infantry  was  deployed 
on  their  right  where  the  hills  sloped  down  into  a 
wheat-field,  in  which  the  shocks  of  grain  stood  in 
scattered  cocks.  But  the  onslaught  of  the  Union 
cavalry  was  so  furious  that  the  Confederates  could 
not  stand  before  it,  and  began  a  fighting  retreat. 
The  cannonading  which  we  had  heard  two  hours 
before,  when  we  were  on  the  Sharpsburg  pike,  was 
the  firing  of  the  Union  light  artillery,  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  enemy  as  they  fought  bravely 
through  the  flowery  lanes  and  grain-fields  of  Fall 
ing  Waters  on  their  way  to  the  temporary  bridge. 


92  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

In  the  mean  time,  another  cavalry  force  had  sur 
rounded  the  small  squads  of  rebels  who  were  trying 
to  escape  across  on  the  floating  scows  which  had 
been  used  at  Williamsport,  and  had  been  brought 
down  to  this  point.  About  three  hundred  and  fifty 
of  them  were  taken  prisoners,  and  these,  with  six 
teen  hundred  who  were  cut  off  at  the  end  of  the 
bridge,  were  all  that  were  found  here  of  Lee's  army, 
which  was  to  have  been  "bagged"  while  it  was 
securely  caged  in  the  elbow  formed  by  the  bend  of 
the  Potomac  at  this  point.  All,  did  I  say  ?  There 
were  a  score  or  more  lying  there  with  the  Union 
soldiers  in  the  wheat-fields  among  the  sheaves 
which  their  fight  had  overturned,  their  faces 
toward  the  sky,  gray-backs  and  blue-backs  sleep 
ing  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking.  To  one 
unused  to  the  gory  sights  of  battle-fields,  the  pic 
ture  presented  there  was  strangely  fascinating. 
The  dead  soldiers,  blue-clad  or  gray-clad,  lay  in 
various  positions  scattered  over  the  grain-field  and 
in  the  clover  meadow ;  but  most  of  them  had  been 
turned  over  on  their  backs  since  they  fell.  The 
expressions  on  the  countenances  of  these  poor  fel 
lows  were  usually  peaceful.  One  rebel  soldier 
attracted  my  attention  by  the  attitude  in  which  he 
lay  still  in  death,  his  head  upon  his  arm,  just  as  I 
remembered  that  David  Copperfield  saw  his  friend, 
the  drowned  Steerforth,  lying  on  the  beach,  as  he 
had  "  often  seen  him  lie  at  school." 

In  a  military  hospital  that  had  been  hastily  im 
provised  in  a  barn,  at  the  head  of  a  leafy  lane,  were 
gathered  the  wounded  of  both  armies,  under  the 
charge  of  Federal  surgeons,  of  whom  I  occasionally 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN^   TIME  93 

caught  glimpses  with  their  bare  hands  and  arms 
reddened  with  the  gore  of  the  poor  fellows,  whose 
cries  and  groans  sounded  lugubriously  within.  The 
men  captured  in  this  little  fight  were  from  the  40th, 
47th,  and  55th  Virginia,  and  55th  North  Carolina 
regiments.  They  were  commanded  by  Brigadier- 
General  Pettigrew.  They  made  a  courageous  stand 
and  a  brave  fight  against  the  Union  cavalry.  They 
were  gallantly  charged  by  the  Michigan  Brigade, 
composed  of  the  1st,  5th,  6th,  and  7th  Michigan 
Cavalry,  aided  by  a  detachment  of  the  8th  New 
York,  1500  men  in  all,  remnants  of  several  regi 
ments  decimated  by  death,  and  commanded  by 
General  George  A.  Custer.  Among  these  who  did 
not  survive  their  wounds  at  Falling  Waters  was  the 
rebel  General  Pettigrew,  who  was  then  lying  in  a 
barn  at  Falling  Waters,  but  was  next  day  taken 
across  the  river  under  a  flag  of  truce  from  Lee's 
army.  He  died  at  Bunker  Hill,  Virginia,  two  days 
later  (July  17).  The  spoils  of  war  included  three 
regimental  battle-flags;  one  brass  field-piece,  and  a 
large  rifled  cannon  which  was  found  concealed  in 
the  woods  on  the  banks  above  the  pontoon-bridge. 
Turning  my  horse's  head  in  the  direction  of 
Meade's  headquarters,  I  looked  across  the  swollen 
and  turbid  Potomac  where  I  could  see  the  smoke 
of  rebel  camps  rising  in  the  thick  Virginia  woods 
on  the  other  side  of  the  stream.  It  is  impossible 
now  to  describe  —  almost  impossible  to  recall —  the 
feeling  of  bitterness  with  which  we  regarded  the 
sight.  Lee's  army  was  gone.  In  spite  of  warnings, 
expostulations,  doubts,  and  fears,  it  had  escaped, 
and  further  pursuit  was  not  even  to  be  thought  of. 


94  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

I  remembered  the  anxiety,  almost  anguish,  with 
which  Lincoln  had  said  before  I  left  Washington  that 
he  was  afraid  that  "  something  would  happen  "  to 
prevent  that  annihilation  of  Lee's  army,  which,  as  he 
thought,  was  then  certainly  within  the  bounds  of 
possibility.  But  the  last  hope  of  the  Confederacy 
had  not  failed  them  yet.  The  desperate  venture 
of  an  invasion  of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  had 
failed,  it  was  true.  But  the  fatal  blow  which  seemed 
to  hang  in  the  air  when  I  left  Washington  did  not 
fall.  As  I  rode  down  the  hill  and  through  the  un 
dulating  fields  beyond,  the  blue-coated  soldiers, 
jolly  and  insouciant,  greeted  the  solitary  civilian 
horseman  with  jocose  remarks  about  the  "  Johnny 
Rebs  "  who  had  so  cunningly  run  away  from  them. 
Many  of  these  men  had  enlisted  "  for  the  war,"  and 
when  I  stopped  to  exchange  salutations,  they  good- 
naturedly  said,  "Well,  here  goes  for  two  years 
more."  I  noticed  a  curious  effect  of  whispering 
speech  as  I  rode  through  the  woods.  Two  or  three 
thousand  men  waiting  for  orders  were  scattered  over 
the  ground  among  the  bushes,  beguiling  their  time 
by  eating,  drinking,  and  talking  in  low  tones.  The 
curious  fluttering  noise  of  this  wide  conversation 
of  so  large  a  body  of  men  was  something  like  that 
undistinguishable  chorus  which  we  have  heard  in 
one  of  Gilbert  and  Sullivan's  operas,  when  the  girls 
on  the  beach  sit  down  and  "  talk  about  the  wea 
ther";  but  this  was  a  prodigious  chorus  —  it  was 
the  gabble  of  two  or  three  thousand  men,  all  talk 
ing  at  once,  and  producing  an  undulating  volume 
of  sound  like  the  noise  of  birds  seeking  their  roosts 
at  night. 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  95 

Meade's  headquarters,  on  my  return,  presented  a 
chopfallen  appearance;  probably  the  worst  was 
known  there  before  I  had  left  on  my  own  private 
and  special  reconnoissance.  Here  I  met  Vice-Presi 
dent  Hamlin,  who  was  also  a  visitor  at  Meade's 
headquarters,  and  who  had  been  taken  out  to  see 
the  fight  (which  did  not  come  off),  at  a  point  nearer 
Williamsport.  As  we  met,  he  raised  his  hands  and 
turned  away  his  face  with  a  gesture  of  despair. 
Later  on,  I  came  across  General  Wads  worth,  who 
almost  shed  tears  while  he  talked  with  us  about  the 
escape  of  the  rebel  army.  He  said  that  it  seemed 
to  him  that  most  of  those  who  participated  in  the 
council  of  war  had  no  stomach  for  the  fight.  "  If 
they  had,"  he  added,  "  the  rebellion,  as  one  might 
say,  might  have  been  ended  then  and  there." 

Vice-President  Hamlin  and  myself  were  des 
patched  by  General  Meade  in  an  ambulance  under 
the  charge  of  a  young  lieutenant  of  cavalry  by  the 
turnpike  road  to  Frederick,  where  we  took  a  train 
for  "Washington.  Columns  upon  columns  of  army 
wagons  and  artillery  were  now  in  motion  toward 
Frederick,  crossing  the  fields,  blocking  the  roads, 
and  interlacing  the  face  of  the  whole  country  with 
blackened  tracks  which  heavy  wheels  cut  in  the 
rich,  dark  soil  of  Maryland,  saturated  with  days  of 
rain.  Here  and  there  one  passed  a  knot  of  wagons 
inextricably  tangled  or  hopelessly  mired  by  the 
roadside.  At  one  point,  I  was  amused  by  seeing  an 
eight-mule  team  thus  stalled  in  a  marshy  piece  of 
ground,  every  animal  being  on  its  back  with  its 
four  legs  motionless  in  the  air.  Whenever  a  team 
ster  essayed  to  touch  any  part  of  the  harness,  all 


96  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

those  thirty-two  legs  would  fly  with  the  speed  and 
regularity  of  a  tremendous  machine,  and  the  unfor 
tunate  meddler  would  bounce  high  in  the  air  and 
come  down  again  angry  and  swearing.  It  is  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  the  Boonsboro  pike  that 
day  was  a  blue  streak  of  profanity  from  Meade's 
headquarters  to  Frederick.  At  one  point,  our  driver 
was  urged  by  the  lieutenant  to  cut  in  between  two 
trains  which  had  suddenly  parted  and  showed  a 
long  clear  space  ahead.  As  he  was  whipping  up  his 
horses,  the  wagon-master  in  charge  of  the  tangled 
teams  came  out  ahead  of  us  and,  shaking  his  fist, 
shouted  in  stentorian  tones,  "Get  out  of  that!" 
Whereupon  our  lieutenant  stood  up  on  the  dash 
board  and  shouted  in  reply,  "  I  have  the  Vice-Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States  in  this  wagon,  and  he 
must  get  the  two  o'clock  train  from  Frederick." 
The  wagon-master,  nothing  daunted,  cried  back,  "  I 
don't  care  if  you  have  got  the  Saviour  of  mankind 
in  that  wagon,  you  can't  come  up  here."  Even  the 
tired  and  dejected  Yice-President  was  forced  to 
smile  grimly  at  the  resolute  wagoner's  reply. 

Nevertheless,  we  did  catch  the  two  o'clock  train 
from  Frederick ;  and  the  next  day,  according  to 
the  President's  request,  I  reported  to  him  all  that 
I  had  seen  and  heard.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  al 
though  he  was  not  so  profoundly  distressed  as  he 
was  when  Hooker's  army  recrossed  the  Rappahan- 
nock  after  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  his  grief 
and  anger  were  something  sorrowful  to  behold. 


CHAPTER  IV 

LINCOLN,  CHASE,  AND  GKANT — AMONG  THE  LAW 
MAKERS — DIFFICULT  PROGRESS  OF  WAR  LEGISLA 
TION  —  LINCOLN  AND  CHASE  AND  THEIR  POLITICAL 
FRIENDS  —  THE  RESIGNATION  OF  SECRETARY  CHASE 
—  ENTER  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  GRANT 

THE  numerous  exciting  topics  brought  up  in 
the  debates  of  Congress  during  the  war  made 
the  capitol  a  point  of  exceeding  interest  to  people 
in  Washington  in  search  of  a  new  sensation.  No 
body  could  tell  when  an  animated  and  acrimoni 
ous,  or  very  important,  discussion  would  spring  up 
in  either  branch  of  Congress.  The  bill  to  indem 
nify  civil  officers  of  the  government  for  the  conse 
quences  of  their  exercise  of  extraordinary  functions 
during  the  suspension  of  the  privileges  of  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  the  bill  to  authorize  the  enlistment  of 
colored  soldiers,  the  proposition  to  divide  the  State 
of  Virginia,  the  Conscription  Bill,  and  similar  so- 
called  war  measures,  were  all  prolific  causes  of  nu 
merous  political  wordy  tilts  in  Congress.  And  in  all 
such  cases  there  would  be  a  field-day  at  the  capitol, 
and  hurrying  crowds  would  overflow  the  galleries 
allotted  to  visitors,  and  the  doors  of  the  chamber 
would  be  besieged  by  men  who  craftily  pleaded 
their  special  privilege  of  entrance.  It  was  difficult 


98  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN^   TIME 

to  account  for  the  celerity  with  which  the  news 
that  an  exciting  debate  was  going  on  would  be 
circulated  through  the  city  of  Washington.  When 
the  House,  for  example,  met  at  noon  and  listened 
perfunctorily  to  the  prayer  of  the  chaplain  and 
the  equally  perfunctory  reading  of  the  minutes  of 
the  previous  day's  session,  there  would  apparently 
be  no  cloud  on  the  congressional  sky.  The  pro 
gress  of  legislation  would  go  droning  on  with  a 
dreary  monotony  that  lulled  the  few  drowsy  spec 
tators,  and  gave  the  newspaper  men  an  opportunity 
to  bring  up  their  arrears  of  work ;  and  then  there 
would  suddenly  spring  up  a  breeze  of  debate  that 
would  eventually  sweep  through  the  Hall  like  a 
gale.  Almost  immediately  every  seat  on  the  floor 
would  be  filled ;  absentees  would  come  flocking  in 
from  corridors  and  committee  rooms,  and  as  if  by 
magic,  before  an  hour  had  passed,  the  galleries 
were  empty  no  longer.  Or  it  often  happened  that 
an  excited  debate  which  had  been  interrupted  by 
adjournment,  would  end  then  and  there ;  and,  al 
though  the  multitudes  would  stream  up  to  the 
capitol,  next  day,  to  hear  "  the  rest  of  the  story," 
proceedings  would  open  tamely,  and  the  subsequent 
discussion  would  as  tamely  drift  off  into  congres 
sional  platitudes  and  be  heard  of  no  more. 

There  were  several  field-days  in  Congress  when 
attempts  were  made  to  censure  or  expel  some  of 
the  more  reckless  and  indiscreet  Copperheads. 
One  of  the  most  impressive  of  these  was  in  the 
Thirty-eighth  Congress,  when  Speaker  Colfax  left 
his  seat,  and,  amidst  profound  silence  in  the 
House,  offered  a  resolution  to  expel  Alexander 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  99 

Long,  one  of  the  Ohio  representatives,  who  had 
declared  himself  in  favor  of  acknowledging  the  in 
dependence  of  the  rebel  States.  Long's  offense 
had  been  committed  the  day  before,  and  he  had 
been  replied  to  by  Garfield,  who  compared  him  to 
Benedict  Arnold,  and  had  said  that  he  (Long)  pro 
posed  to  surrender  his  country's  flag  and  honor 
and  integrity  into  the  hands  of  its  rebel  enemies. 
Colfax  supported  a  resolution  of  expulsion  in  a 
speech  of  much  solemnity  and  impressiveness. 

His  voice  trembled  with  emotion  while  he  said 
that  he  had  a  double  duty  to  perform;  first,  as 
presiding  officer  of  the  House,  and  second  as  the 
representative  of  more  than  one  hundred  thousand 
voters  in  his  own  congressional  district  of  Indiana. 
It  was  in  the  latter  capacity,  he  said,  that  he  called 
for  the  expulsion  of  Long.  Colfax  was  rather  se 
verely  criticized,  even  by  some  of  the  Union  mem 
bers,  for  his  taking  it  upon  himself  to  offer  this 
resolution  without  consulting  any  of  his  associates. 
The  debate  ran  along  with  fluctuations  of  excite 
ment  through  several  days,  and  was  participated 
in  by  all  the  leading  members  on  both  sides  of  the 
House.  The  discussion,  as  usual,  took  a  wide  range 
—  the  right  of  revolution,  the  status  of  the  so- 
called  rebel  States,  and  a  multitude  of  other  ques 
tions  being  lugged  in  without  much  regard  to  the 
original  cause  of  the  long  and  tedious  discussion. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  General  Garfield  came 
most  prominently  to  the  front  as  one  of  the  readi 
est  debaters  and  most  impressive  speakers  in 
Congress. 

Curiously  enough,  while  this   skirmishing  was 


100  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN^  TIME 

going  on,  another  Peace  Democrat,  Benjamin  Gr. 
Harris,  of  Maryland,  got  into  trouble  by  not  only 
indorsing  everything  that  Long  had  said,  but  by 
announcing  himself  to  be  a  believer  in  a  peace 
which,  he  said,  could  only  be  obtained  by  a  recogni 
tion  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  There  was  a 
general  outcry  from  the  Union  members,  who 
called  him  to  order.  He  defiantly  yelled,  "  You  've 
got  to  come  to  it,"  and  went  on  to  say  that  he  had 
been  a  slave-owner  before  the  Abolitionists  stole 
all  his  slaves  away  from  him,  and  had  borne  in 
silence  the  insults  which  had  been  heaped  upon 
him  as  a  slave-owner  by  those  who  called  slavery 
"  the  sum  of  all  villainies."  Finally  he  cried,  "  The 
South  asks  you  to  let  them  alone ;  but  no,  you 
say  you  will  bring  them  into  subjection ;  that  is 
not  yet  done,  and  God  Almighty  grant  that  it  may 
never  be ;  I  trust  you  will  never  subjugate  the 
South."  Instantly  the  House  was  in  the  wildest 
confusion,  and  a  score  of  members  were  on  their 
feet  shouting  to  the  Speaker  and  endeavoring  to 
be  recognized.  Out  of  the  tumult  finally  rose  the 
stentorian  voice  of  E.  B.  Washburne,  of  Illinois, 
who  called  Harris  to  order  "  for  words  spoken  in 
debate,"  and  demanded  that  the  language  of  the 
member  should  be  taken  down  and  read  from  the 
clerk's  desk.  After  much  confusion,  this  was 
finally  done,  and  the  words  objected  to  were  read 
by  the  clerk  in  the  midst  of  profound  silence, 
whereat  Harris  airily  exclaimed :  "That 's  all  right ; 
that  's  what  I  said."  Then  Washburne  moved  a 
vote  of  expulsion,  and  the  House  was  well  tangled 
up  by  the  two  motions  —  one  to  expel  Long,  of 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  101 

Ohio,  and  the  other  aimed  at  Harris,  of  Maryland. 
Fernando  Wood,  apparently  envious  of  the  sudden 
reputation  which  his  political  associates  had  ac 
quired,  tried  to  slide  in  a  little  speech  in  which  he 
said  that  if  Long  were  expelled,  he  (Wood)  might 
as  well  go  with  him,  as  he  indorsed  every  word 
that  the  Ohio  gentleman  had  said.  At  this  Wash- 
burrie,  pale  with  rage,  shook  his  fist  at  Wood  and 
shouted,  "  We  '11  put  you  out,  too." 

The  most  picturesque  incident  of  this  acrimoni 
ous  debate  was  Long's  final  speech  in  his  own  de 
fense.  He  was  a  tall,  well-formed  man,  with  a 
small  head,  a  noticeably  red  face,  and  fiery  auburn 
hair.  He  had  been  distinguished  throughout  the 
session  for  his  quiet  and  reserve,  and  the  speech 
which  provoked  this  terrific  storm  was  almost  his 
maiden  effort  in  Congress;  he  said  it  had  been 
written  four  weeks  before  its  delivery  and  kept  in 
his  desk  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  launch  it 
upon  the  House.  In  the  course  of  his  defense,  he 
said  that  copies  of  his  so-called  treasonable  speech 
had  been  largely  subscribed  for  by  Republican 
members  who  were  anxious  to  sow  treason  among 
their  constituents.  He  referred  satirically  to  W. 
D.  Kelley,  of  Pennsylvania,  who,  he  said  "  played 
Forrest  here  for  the  benefit  of  the  House."  The 
most  impressive  speech  of  this  famous  debate  was 
made  by  "  Thad"  Stevens,  who  came  into  the  House 
from  his  sick-bed,  and,  though  pale  and  wan,  arose 
like  a  column  of  iron  in  his  place  to  say  that  he 
had  learned  that  during  his  absence  from  the 
House  somebody  on  the  other  side  had  attempted 
to  compare  his  position  on  the  status  of  the  so- 


102  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

called  rebel  States  with  that  of  the  two  gentlemen 
now  under  censure.  With  a  grim  smile,  he  said : 
"  It  has  been  said  by  members  upon  this  floor,  that 
those  who  would  recognize  the  so-called  Southern 
Confederacy  by  treaty  occupy  the  same  position  as 
myself."  S.  S.  Cox,  whose  remarks  were  evidently 
in  the  mind  of  Stevens,  attempted  to  reply,  but  the 
stern  old  Pennsylvamaii  waved  him  down  by  the 
motion  of  his  hand,  and  said  "  that  whoever  would 
link  me  [Stevens]  with  the  infamous  creatures 
now  before  the  consideration  of  the  House  was  a 
fool  or  a  knave,  perhaps  both."  The  debate  began 
on  the  8th  of  April  and  did  not  end  until  the  14th. 
The  upshot  of  the  matter  was  that  the  two  thirds 
vote  necessary  to  expel  a  member  could  not  be 
secured  in  the  case  of  Long,  and  he  was  censured 
by  a  vote  of  ninety-three  to  eighteen.  The  same 
correction  overtook  the  loquacious  Marylander  by 
a  vote  nearly  identical. 

"  Garrulous  Garret t  Davis  "  got  into  trouble  about 
the  same  time  when  he  attacked  the  Amnesty  Pro 
clamation  of  President  Lincoln  in  a  series  of  reso 
lutions  offered  by  him  in  the  Senate.  After  his 
usual  fashion,  he  had  embodied  a  long  stump  speech 
in  his  resolutions,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said: 
"  Verily,  the  people  North  and  the  people  South 
ought  to  revolt  against  their  war  leaders  and  take 
this  great  matter  into  their  own  hands,  and  elect 
members  to  a  national  convention  of  all  States  to 
terminate  a  war  that  is  slaying  its  hundreds  of  thou 
sands.  Officers,  plunderers,  and  spoilsmen  in  the 
loyal  States  threaten  the  masses  of  both  sections 
with  irretrievable  bankruptcy  and  indefinite  slaugh- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  103 

ter."  On  this,  a  resolution  to  expel  Davis  from  the 
Senate  was  offered  by  Senator  Wilson,  of  Massachu 
setts  ;  and  there  was  a  great  rush  to  the  Senate  gal 
leries  when  Davis's  so-called  trial  began.  Wilson 
opened  for  the  prosecution,  and  made  a  strong  and 
sensible  speech,  and  was  replied  to  by  Davis,  who 
began  by  taking  off  his  neckerchief,  unbuttoning 
his  waistcoat,  and  generally  getting  ready  to  "  wade 
in."  Davis,  before  he  had  fairly  got  under  way, 
drove  pretty  much  everybody  out  of  the  Senate,  and 
the  galleries  were  empty.  He  insisted  upon  read 
ing  nearly  all  of  the  long  sections  of  the  old  Fugi 
tive  Slave  Law,  and  other  statutes  and  documents 
which  he  thought  bore  upon  the  matter  under  dis 
cussion.  The  proposition  to  expel  him  dragged 
along  for  weeks  and  months,  and  was  not  finally 
disposed  of  until  the  public  had  lost  all  interest  in 
it.  While  the  matter  was  pending,  Davis  was  even 
more  than  usually  defiant.  At  one  time  he  proposed 
his  celebrated  scheme  to  divide  the  Northern  States 
so  that  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  should 
be  one  State,  Vermont,  Connecticut,  and  Ehode 
Island  another,  and  Maine  be  left  to  take  care  of 
itself. 

At  another  time  Davis  proposed  to  amend  the 
Constitution  by  providing  that  no  person  whose 
mother  or  grandmother  had  been  a  negro  should 
be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  be  entitled  to 
any  privileges  of  citizenship.  This  latter  scheme 
provoked  the  galleries  to  a  tremendous  burst  of 
laughter,  which  excited  the  rage  of  the  little  old 
Kentuckian,  and  was  sternly  rebuked  by  the  pre 
siding  officer.  At  another  time,  when  he  was  con- 


104  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

ducting  a  bitter  fight  against  the  establishment  of 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  the  garrulous  senator  made 
a  vituperative  speech  against  Lincoln,  whom  he 
compared  to  George  III.  He  said  that  Lincoln  was 
"  a  man  of  weak  mind  and  inordinate  vanity,  who 
thought  himself  a  great  man  and  a  statesman,  as 
he  played  his  fantastic  tricks  before  high  Heaven." 
When,  in  course  of  debate,  Sumner  reminded  the 
shrieking  Kentuckian  that  Madison  had  said  that 
the  Revolutionary  War  was  in  behalf  of  the  rights 
of  humanity,  Davis  replied  that  Madison  by  "  hu 
manity  "  meant  "  white  men  only,"  at  which  every 
body  laughed;  and  Davis  himself,  dropping  into 
his  seat,  fairly  chuckled  with  mirth.  The  motion 
to  expel  Davis  was  finally  dropped,  and  the  com 
bative  little  man  kept  up  his  fusillade  of  violent 
speeches  as  long  as  he  remained  in  the  Senate. 

A  great  deal  of  heat  was  wasted  on  the  proposi 
tion  to  enact  a  law  to  indemnify  the  President  and 
other  public  officers  for  any  responsibility  which 
they  might  have  incurred  in  suspending  the  privi 
leges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  the  so-called 
arbitrary  arrests.  During  the  progress  of  the  bill 
a  long  and  exceedingly  bitter  debate  went  on  in 
the  House,  where  Voorhees  made  a  cantankerous 
speech  against  it.  As  the  passage  of  the  measure 
was  already  assured  (it  was  on  a  proposition  to 
amend  the  bill  after  its  first  passage  that  Voorhees's 
speech  was  made),  there  was  no  disposition  to  make 
any  reply  to  "the  Tall  Sycamore  of  the  Wabash"; 
accordingly,  Mr.  Dailey,  a  Territorial  delegate  from 
Nebraska,  was  coached  and  put  forward  to  make  a 
speech  in  rejoinder,  by  way  of  derision.  Dailey  was 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME  105 

what  was  called  a  "  smooth-bore  "  speaker,  and  he 
had  no  sooner  begun  to  pour  out  his  disjointed  sen 
tences  than  the  mortified  Voorhees  fled  in  dismay ; 
but  Dailey  succeeded  in  stirring  up  the  House.  He 
spoke  to  the  galleries,  where  there  chanced  to  be  a 
regiment  of  soldiers,  and  paid  a  glowing  tribute  to 
the  "  brave  boys  in  blue " ;  whereupon  the  brave 
boys  in  blue  gave  him  a  round  of  applause.  At 
this  Vallandigham  sprang  out  into  the  aisle,  trem 
bling  with  rage,  and  insisted  that  the  galleries 
should  not  be  permitted  to  show  their  approval  or 
disapproval  to  "  the  actors  on  this  floor."  It  was  a 
long  time  before  the  sparring  between  members 
which  followed  this  sally  was  brought  to  a  close, 
and  Dailey  was  permitted  to  finish  his  speech.  The 
bill  (as  we  all  know)  eventually  passed. 

Probably  no  measure  brought  before  the  War 
Congress  excited  so  much  debate  and  political  feel 
ing  as  the  Conscription  Bill  and  its  subsequent 
amendment  known  as  the  Negro  Soldier  Bill.  The 
bill  to  authorize  the  draft  was  debated  pro  and 
con,  amended  and  generally  fought  over,  for  nearly 
a  year  before  it  finally  became  a  law.  It  was 
bitterly  opposed  by  the  Peace  Democrats,  Vallan 
digham  being  at  the  head  of  the  opposition  in 
the  House.  During  the  earlier  debates,  the  feeling 
of  wrath  among  the  Peace  Democratic  members 
of  the  House  was  manifested  at  every  step  of 
the  way.  One  day  Eepresentative  Campbell  of 
Pennsylvania  referred  to  the  Peace  Democrats  as 
"domestic  traitors";  whereupon  Vallandigham, 
who  had  given  a  few  minutes  of  his  allotted  time 
to  Campbell,  wrathily  bounced  up  and  said  that 


106  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

lie  had  yielded  the  floor  to  a  gentleman  and  not  to 
a  blackguard.  Campbell  retorted:  "  The  gentle 
man  is  himself  a  blackguard,"  apparently  not  see 
ing  the  incongruousness  of  calling  a  man  a 
gentleman  and  a  blackguard  in  the  same  breath. 
This  sally  provoked  the  mirth  and  the  applause  of 
the  galleries,  which  were,  as  usual,  crowded  with 
soldiers;  and  several  of  the  Peace  Democrats  loudly 
and  angrily  demanded  that  the  galleries  be  cleared. 
One  of  the  speakers,  Representative  Robinson  of 
Illinois,  said  that  "  Congress  had  been  too  often 
insulted  by  army  contractors  and  government 
plunderers."  This  offensive  remark  caused  the 
blue-coated  sovereigns  in  the  gallery  to  laugh  in 
chorus  with  derision;  but  some  of  them  uttered 
angry  exclamations,  and  for  a  moment  there  were 
serious  signs  of  mutiny.  S.  S.  Cox  remarked  that 
he  hoped  that  the  galleries  would  not  be  cleared,  as 
only  a  few  persons  had  joined  in  the  demonstra 
tions,  and  "the  fool-killer  would  be  able  to  take 
care  of  them."  Good  humor  was  restored  by  this 
time,  and  the  impending  storm  was  averted. 

The  Conscription  Bill  passed  through  many  and 
curious  phases  before  it  became  a  law,  and  when 
ever  it  appeared  in  either  branch  of  Congress, 
there  was  a  signal  for  a  racket  to  begin.  Even 
after  the  law  had  gone  into  the  statute-books,  Sec 
retary  Stanton  attempted  to  construe  the  clause 
allowing  exemption  from  the  draft  on  a  payment  of 
$300  in  such  a  way  as  to  increase  the  burdensome- 
ness  of  the  law;  but  he  was  overruled  by  the 
solicitor  of  the  War  Department  and  the  attorney- 
general.  One  of  Fernando  Wood's  amusing  amend- 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  107 

ments  proposed  to  the  pending  bill  was  that  "all 
persons  who,  from  conscientious  disbelief  in  the 
humanity,  necessity,  or  eventual  success  of  the 
war,  were  opposed  to  its  further  progress,  should 
be  exempted  from  the  draft." 

The  bill  to  enlist  negroes  in  the  army  was  op 
posed  with  tremendous  energy  by  Peace  Demo 
crats,  who  affected  to  look  on  the  proposition  as 
an  attempt  to  excite  a  servile  war.  This  was  the 
view  of  the  case,  it  will  be  remembered,  that  was 
taken  by  the  Confederate  authorities ;  and  Repre 
sentative  Wickliffe  of  Kentucky  made  himself 
ridiculous  by  offering  a  resolution  inquiring  as  to 
the  truthfulness  of  the  report  that  fugitive  slaves 
were  being  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  contrary  to  law.  Wickliffe  was  speedily 
silenced  when,  in  due  course  of  time,  there  came 
back  from  the  army,  through  the  War  Depart 
ment,  the  explanation  that  "colored  Americans 
had  been  enlisted  in  the  military  service  in  the  ab 
sence  of  their  fugitive  masters,  who  had  fled  south 
ward."  This  ludicrous  finale  for  a  time  quelled 
even  the  querulous  and  perpetually  complaining 
gentleman  from  Kentucky.  Later  on,  when  it  was 
found  that  colored  substitutes  would  be  accepted 
in  place  of  drafted  white  men,  there  was  a  great 
rush  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  of  several  of  the 
Free  States  to  fill  up  their  quotas  by  enlisting  ne 
groes  from  the  Border  States  and  the  District  of 
Columbia.  The  War  Department  stopped  this  by 
compelling  all  enlisting  agents  to  give  bonds  that 
men  taken  outside  of  their  own  State  lines  should 
not  be  used  as  recruits  in  the  army.  The  United 


108  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

States  Government,  so  Secretary  Stanton  said, 
wanted  to  employ  these  colored  men  in  its  own 
work,  and  would  not  tolerate  interference  from 
any  of  the  States.  Upon  this,  Senator  Wilson,  of 
Massachusetts,  proposed  to  amend  the  conscription 
law  by  allowing  the  agents  of  loyal  States  to  go 
into  all  of  the  seceded  States  where  Union  lines 
had  been  reestablished,  and  to  enlist  men,  black  or 
white,  for  their  own  State  organizations.  This 
was  intended  to  facilitate  the  enlistment  of  black 
soldiers  in  the  South ;  but  the  proposition  came  to 
Stanton's  ears,  and  he  and  Wilson  had  a  hot  dis 
cussion,  in  the  course  of  which  the  Secretary  told 
the  Senator  that  no  agents  of  Free  States  had  any 
right  in  Southern  States  raking  up  able-bodied  col 
ored  men,  who  would  be  put  in  the  poorly-officered 
State  regiments,  instead  of  being  placed  in  the 
more  thorough  and  vigorous  organizations  of  col 
ored  troops  then  being  undertaken  by  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States.  Becoming  somewhat 
excited  by  this  discussion,  Secretary  Stanton  told 
Senator  Wilson  that  if  the  Wilson  amendment  be 
came  a  law,  the  War  Office  would  be  seeking  a  sec 
retary  on  the  very  next  day  after.  It  is  needless 
to  add  that  Wilson's  amendment  was  heard  of  no 
more. 

The  value  of  negro  substitutes  for  drafted  white 
men  was  quaintly  hit  off  by  "  Petroleum  Y.  Nasby," 
in  one  of  his  inimitable  papers  written  from  "  Con- 
fedrit  Crossroads."  In  a  previous  paper  the  parson 
had  poured  out  the  vials  of  his  wrath  upon  the 
wicked  project  to  use  colored  men  as  soldiers  in 
the  war ;  but  when  he  discovered  that  colored  sub- 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  109 

stitutes  could  be  made  available  to  save  the  precious 
lives  of  the  unwilling  residents  of  the  Border  States, 
he  sounded  an  impassioned  cry  to  "  rally  "  all  the 
colored  people  that  were  drifting  about  the  region 
of  his  Crossroads.  This  letter  attracted  the  atten 
tion  of  President  Lincoln,  who  never  missed  an  op 
portunity  to  read  Nasby's  then  famous  papers. 
The  President,  by  frequent  reading,  was  able  to 
repeat  this  particular  "  rally  "  from  memory,  and 
for  a  long  time  he  humorously  illustrated  the  in 
consistency  of  the  Copperhead  position  on  the  ques 
tion  of  negro  enlistments  by  reciting  the  letter  with 
great  effect,  invariably  ending  his  recitation  with 
a  hearty  laugh. 

One  evening,  long  after  the  Nasby  letter  had 
been  printed,  and  while  the  Lincoln  family  were  at 
their  summer  house,  the  Soldiers7  Home,  I  went 
out  with  the  President  to  stay  overnight.  Several 
visitors  came  in,  and  the  conversation  fell  upon 
the  condition  of  the  freedmen  in  the  Border  States. 
The  President,  standing  before  the  fire-place,  re 
cited  the  whole  of  Nasby's  letter,  then  displaced  in 
the  public  mind  by  later  productions.  The  last 
part,  which  Lincoln  said  was  specially  good,  ran 
thus:  "Arowse  to  wunst!  Rally  agin  Conway! 
Rally  agin  Sweet !  Rally  agin  Hegler !  Rally  agin 
Hegler's  family !  Rally  agin  the  porter  at  the  Reed 
House  !  Rally  agin  the  cook  at  the  Crook  House ! 
Pally  agin  the  nigger  widder  in  Vance's  addishun  ! 
Rally  agin  Missis  Umstid !  Rally  agin  Missis 
Umstid's  childern  by  her  first  husband!  Rally 
agin  Missis  Umstid's  childern  by  her  sekkund  hus 
band  !  Rally  agin  all  the  rest  uv  Missis  Umstid's 


110  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME 

childern !  Rally  agin  the  nigger  that  kum  yister- 
day !  Rally  agin  the  saddle-kulurd  gal  that  yoost 
2  be  hear !  Ameriky  fer  white  men ! "  Lincoln 
used  to  quote  these  rally  ing-cries,  at  intervals, 
after  other  men  had  read  and  forgotten  them. 

In  the  winter  of  1862,  the  dismemberment  of 
Virginia  by  the  admission  of  the  western  counties 
of  the  Old  Dominion  as  the  new  State  of  West 
Virginia  was  the  subject  of  a  long  and  interesting 
debate.  The  congressional  elections  of  the  previous 
November  had  resulted  somewhat  unfavorably  for 
the  administration.  Lincoln's  emancipation  policy, 
the  removal  of  McClellan,  and  other  important 
events,  as  it  was  alleged,  had  so  aroused  the 
popular  indignation  that  the  Republican  majority 
in  the  next  succeeding  House  of  Representatives 
was  somewhat  diminished.  This  gave  pause  to 
some  of  the  more  timorous  Unionists,  who  hesi 
tated  at  taking  a  step  so  radical  as  that  proposed 
in  the  division  of  Virginia.  Among  those  who 
voted  against  the  passage  of  the  West  Virginia 
bill  were  such  Republicans  as  Roscoe  Conkling  of 
New  York,  John  B.  Alley  of  Massachusetts, 
James  M.  Ashley  of  Ohio,  and  Martin  F.  Conway 
of  Kansas.  This  last-named  gentleman,  however, 
was  an  erratic  and  radical  politician,  whose  objec 
tion  to  the  bill  was  that  it  provided  for  gradual, 
and  not  immediate,  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in 
the  proposed  new  State.  Conway  subsequently 
secured  notoriety  by  his  preposterous  scheme  to 
divide  the  Northern  States  into  new  confederacies. 
Later  on  he  made  an  insane  speech  in  the  House, 
in  which  he  attacked  the  Lincoln  administration 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  111 

for  its  "  pro-slavery  character,"  asserting  that  Lin 
coln  was  trying  to  build  up  a  pro-slavery  party, 
and  had  filled  the  departments  and  the  army  with 
pro-slavery  sympathizers  with  the  rebellion."  Con- 
way  was  a  small,  red-topped,  pale-faced  man,  with 
an  excitable  temperament  and  vehement  manners. 
Once,  while  he  was  in  the  midst  of  an  incendiary 
harangue,  the  limit  of  his  time  expired,  and  when 
he  asked  permission  to  go  on,  he  was  stopped  by 
Owen  Lovejoy  with  an  objection ;  whereupon  Con- 
way,  darting  his  finger  at  the  burly  radical  from 
Illinois,  screamed,  "  And  you  too,  Brutus  ! "  This 
was  not  the  only  exciting  episode  in  which  Con  way 
was  a  conspicuous  figure.  It  was  charitably  be 
lieved  that  his  reason  had  been  unsettled  by  his 
intense  attention  to  the  political  issues  that  were 
then  so  prominent. 

One  of  the  most  notable  incidents  in  Congress  in 
the  winter  of  1862-63  was  the  remarkable  speech 
of  Vallandigham,  in  which  he  defined  his  position 
and  made  his  reelection  to  Congress  an  impossi 
bility  so  long  as  a  respectable  majority  of  his  own 
party  had  any  influence  at  the  polls.  It  was  an 
important  occasion,  and  the  rumor  that  he  would 
at  that  time  define  his  position  brought  a  great 
concourse  to  the  House;  and  when  he  began  to 
speak  the  members  from  the  opposite  side  of  the 
chamber  clustered  around  the  nearest  adjoining 
seats,  and  listened  with  intentness  to  what  he  had 
to  say.  It  was  a  singular  spectacle,  this  rapt  atten 
tion  by  relentless  patriots  to  the  studied  but  vehe 
ment  address  of  a  man  who  was  soon  to  be  sent 
across  the  rebel  lines  by  a  Union  officer  as  a  traitor 


112  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

to  his  country.  But  the  eagerness  of  the  Bepub- 
can  listeners  to  hear  Vallandigham's  speech  was 
inspired  rather  by  the  hope  that  he  would  say 
something  that  would  damage  the  cause  of  the 
Peace  Democrats  than  by  their  admiration  of  his 
oratory.  In  brief,  his  was  an  argument  in  favor  of 
the  right  of  the  revolution.  He  said  that  George 
Washington  was  a  rebel,  and  that  we  were  all  de 
scended  from  rebels.  He  referred  very  frequently 
to  some  form  of  compromise;  and  the  ghost  of 
"peaceful  compromise"  was  continually  hovering 
in  the  background  while  he  spoke.  He  ventured 
somewhat  into  the  domain  of  prophecy  when  he 
said,  "  History  will  record  the  utter,  disastrous,  and 
most  bloody  failure  of  the  experiment  of  an  attempt 
to  coerce  the  Southern  States."  He  also  said  that 
if  the  war  was  prolonged,  and  the  South  should 
establish  its  independence,  "the  great  Northwest 
would  go  with  the  South,  and  would  not  be  a  mere 
appanage  to  the  Atlantic  States,  without  a  seaboard." 
One  of  the  most  vigorous  and  pungent  speeches 
of  that  session  was  made  in  reply  to  Vallandigham 
by  John  A.  Bingham,  of  Ohio.  Judge  Bingham 
was  one  of  those  curiously  constituted  men  who 
never  excel  in  a  formal  speech,  and  who  require 
provocation,  contradiction,  and  interruption  to 
arouse  them  to  real  eloquence.  The  more  frequently 
he  was  interfered  with  and  baited  in  the  discussion, 
the  more  vigorous  was  his  logic,  and  the  more  bril 
liant  and  forcible  his  rhetoric.  On  this  occasion 
he  was  a  remarkable  figure.  He  was  a  small 
nervous  man,  with  a  pale,  thin  face,  and  long, 
tawny,  fine  hair,  an  excitable  manner,  and  lambent, 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  113 

light-blue  eyes.  Again  and  again  he  "brought 
down  the  House  "  with  his  apt  rejoinders  to  Vallan- 
digham,  who  lost  ground  whenever  he  ventured  to 
interrupt  Bingham. 

Another  speaker  who  replied  to  Vallandigham's 
speech  was  Representative  Hendrick  B.  Wright,  of 
the  Luzerne  Congressional  District,  Pennsylvania. 
Mr.  Wright  was  an  elderly,  white-haired  man,  a 
War  Democrat,  and  his  commanding  figure  rose 
high  above  the  mob  of  congressmen  who  eagerly 
clustered  around  him  to  hear  what  he  might  say. 
He  had  recently  lost  his  eldest  son,  a  captain  in 
u  Rush's  Lancers,"  who  had  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five,  of  fever  contracted  in  the  marshes  of 
Virginia ;  and  a  second  son,  only  sixteen  years  old, 
was  then  standard-bearer  in  another  Pennsylvania 
regiment.  Eloquently  referring  to  the  complaint 
of  the  Peace  Democrats  that  the  war  required  a 
great  sacrifice  of  blood  and  treasure,  he  said  that 
it  was  better  that  we  should  offer  three  hundred 
thousand  more  of  the  best  men  of  the  nation,  and 
so  end  the  rebellion,  than  bequeath  its  horrors  to 
a  generation  to  come,  and  let  it  meet  the  terrors 
that  we  had  not  the  courage  to  grapple  with  and 
conquer.  There  were  moist  eyes  in  the  throng  of 
heroes  round  this  noble  Roman  father  as  he  thus 
concluded:  "The  war  has  cost  me  its  trials  and 
tribulations.  I  can  truly  close  my  remarks  with  a 
quotation  from  an  ancient  philosopher,  uttered 
over  the  body  of  his  son,  slain  in  battle: 

"I  should  have  blushed  if  Cato's  house  had  stood 
Secure  and  flourished  in  a  civil  war." 


114  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

It  would  be  needless  here  to  refer  to  Vallan- 
digham's  subsequent  career.  We  may  recall  his 
incendiary  speeches  in  Ohio  later  in  that  year,  his 
arrest  by  General  Burnside,  his  deportation  beyond 
the  rebel  lines,  and  the  flames  of  discord  that  flared 
up  in  the  North  when  these  events  took  place. 
Although  President  Lincoln  was  greatly  surprised 
and  dismayed  by  Burnside's  treatment  of  Vallan- 
digham,  he  wrote  several  documents  pertinent 
thereto  which  have  passed  into  history  as  political 
classics.  With  a  single  stroke  of  his  pen  he  re 
vealed  the  kernel  of  the  contention  when  he  asked, 
"Must  I  shoot  a  simple-minded  soldier  boy  who 
deserts,  while  I  must  not  touch  a  hair  of  the  wily 
agitator  who  induces  him  to  desert  ? "  * 

When  Vallandigham,  passing  through  the  Con 
federacy,  had,  by  a  detour  seaward,  finally  returned 
to  the  United  States  through  Canada,  I  had  occa 
sion  to  mention  his  name  to  Lincoln,  remarking 
that  he  had  been  speaking  in  Ohio.  "  What !  "  ex 
claimed  the  President,  looking  at  me  quizzically, 
"  has  Vallandigham  got  back !  "  Somewhat  puz 
zled,  I  explained  that  everybody  knew  that.  "  Dear 
me ! "  said  Lincoln,  with  preternatural  solemnity. 
"  I  supposed  he  was  in  a  foreign  land.  Anyhow, 
I  hope  I  do  not  know  that  he  is  in  the  United 
States;  and  I  shall  not,  unless  he  says  or  does 
something  to  draw  attention  to  him."  Presently 
he  went  to  his  table,  and,  drawing  out  some  loose 
sheets  of  paper,  said  that  he  had  there  the  rough 
notes  of  an  interview  which  he  had  lately  had  with 
Fernando  Wood.  This  was  in  August,  1864.  It 

*  Lincoln  to  Gov.  H.  Seymour,  June  12,  1863, 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  115 

appeared  that  Wood  had  said  to  the  President: 
"We  Peace  Democrats  are  the  only  Democrats; 
all  others  are  bastards  and  impostors ;  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  War  Democrat,  for  that  is  a  con 
tradiction  in  terms.  We  don't  expect  to  elect  our 
candidate  for  President  this  fall :  the  people  of  the 
North  are  not  yet  ready  for  peace.  But  peace 
must  come  sooner  or  later ;  and  when  it  does,  the 
Democratic  party  will  be  the  party  which  will  act 
and  assimilate  with  the  dominant  party  in  the 
South,  and  so  we  shall  again  have  our  rightful  as 
cendancy.  Now,  Mr.  President,  you  cannot  find 
fault  with  that ;  it  is  not  going  to  hurt  you  any." 
Lincoln  then  said  that  he  had  told  Wood  that  he 
was  disposed  to  be  generous  ;  and  he  asked  if  Yal- 
landigham's  alleged  return  was  any  part  of  this 
program.  Wood  replied  that  it  was  not,  and  added : 
"  You  may  not  believe  me,  but  I  assure  you  that  I 
never  knew  or  expected  that  he  would  return, 
though  I  acknowledge  that  I  have  had  a  letter  from 
him  since  he  got  back.  He  has  had  already  more 
notoriety  than  he  deserves,  and  I  warn  you  that 
the  true  policy  is  that  he  be  severely  let  alone." 
To  this  the  President  replied,  according  to  his  own 
account :  "  I  don't  believe  that  Vallandigham  has 
returned;  I  never  can  believe  it  until  he  forces 
himself  offensively  upon  the  public  attention  and 
upon  my  attention.  Then  we  shall  have  to  deal 
with  him.  So  long  as  he  behaves  himself  decently, 
he  is  as  effectually  in  disguise  as  the  man  who 
went  to  a  masquerade  party  with  a  clean  face." 


116  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN^    TIME 

LINCOLN  AND   CHASE,   AND  THEIR  POLITICAL  FRIENDS 

SECRETARY  CHASE  was  inordinately  jealous  of  any 
apparent  invasion  of  the  appointing  power  of  his 
office.  His  warmly  supported  theory  was  that  each 
head  of  an  executive  department  should  exercise 
exclusive  control  of  all  the  appointments  and  re 
movals  in  his  branch  of  the  public  service.  This, 
of  course,  would  leave  the  President  absolutely 
shorn  of  all  power  in  the  matter  of  making  ap 
pointments,  whether  important  or  unimportant. 
If  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  were  to  be  su 
preme  in  the  choice  of  an  officer  to  fill  the  most 
considerable  place  in  his  department,  then  the  Sec 
retary  of  State  should  also  be  the  sole  authority  in 
respect  of  selecting  foreign  ministers  to  represent 
our  government  abroad.  Secretary  Chase  not  only 
held  to  this  view,  at  least  so  far  as  his  own  depart 
ment  was  concerned,  but  he  also  resented  the  in 
terference  of  congressmen,  and  more  than  once 
brushed  aside  President,  senators,  and  representa 
tives  in  his  determination  to  make  important  ap 
pointments  without  their  consent  or  approval. 

A  curious  illustration  of  this  usage  of  the  Secre 
tary  came  to  my  knowledge  in  March,  1863.  There 
had  been  a  thorough  overhauling  of  the  chief  fed 
eral  offices  in  San  Francisco,  conducted  by  a  spe 
cial  agent  of  the  Treasury  Department  —  Thomas 
Brown  —  who  was  a  confidential  friend  of  Secre 
tary  Chase.  On  his  report,  it  was  determined  in 
the  interior  councils  of  the  Treasury  Department 
to  make  "a  clean  sweep."  Secretary  Chase  inti 
mated  this  determination  to  the  three  California 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  117 

congressmen  —  A.  A.  Sargent  (afterward  United 
States  senator,  and  subsequently  minister  to  Ger 
many),  F.  F.  Low  (afterward  minister  to  China), 
and  T.  G.  Phelps.  These  gentlemen,  having  been 
informed  by  the  Secretary  that  he  intended  to 
make  many  changes,  were  invited  one  evening  to 
his  private  office  in  the  Treasury  building,  where 
they  were  entertained  with  a  brief  summary  of 
Brown's  report,  after  which  Secretary  Chase  blandly 
informed  the  expectant  congressmen  that  he  had 
resolved  to  remove  all  of  the  leading  officials  and 
to  supply  their  places  with  new  men.  He  then  read 
a  list  of  the  appointments  as  he  had  made  them  out, 
and  waited  with  calm  dignity  to  hear  if  the  con 
gressmen  had  anything  to  say.  But  as  he  had  al 
ready  announced  his  irrevocable  decision  in  the 
matter,  there  was  evidently  nothing  for  them  to 
say ;  and,  having  expressed  themselves  as  resigned 
to  the  Secretary's  will,  they  departed.  It  was  re 
ported  that  the  three  astonished  congressmen  ut 
tered  some  strong  language  as  they  passed  out  of 
the  Treasury  building.  A  few  days  afterward,  the 
California  congressmen  paid  their  respects  to  the 
President,  and  departed  for  New  York  on  their  way 
to  San  Francisco.  There  Mr.  Phelps  at  once  took 
a  steamer  homeward  byway  of  Panama,  and  Messrs. 
Sargent  and  Low  lingered  for  a  day  or  two  in  the 
city. 

While  they  were  in  New  York,  I  was  astonished 
one  night  by  receiving  from  President  Lincoln  an 
urgent  summons  to  come  immediately  to  the 
White  House.  Upon  my  arriving  there,  Mr.  Lin 
coln  said  that  he  had  just  learned  that  a  number 


118  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

of  removals  and  appointments  in  San  Francisco 
had  been  determined  upon  by  Secretary  Chase 
without  consulting  him  or  the  California  congress 
men  ;  and  that  the  three  congressmen  had  departed 
from  Washington  very  angry  and  discomfited. 
With  some  asperity  of  manner,  he  wanted  to  know 
if  this  was  true.  I  told  him  that  it  was  true,  and  I 
recited  the  facts  as  they  had  come  to  my  know 
ledge  from  Messrs.  Sargent,  Low,  and  Phelps.  The 
President  then  angrily  asked  why  I  had  not  told 
him  this  before.  1  replied  that  it  was  not  my 
affair;  that  as  long  as  the  congressmen  had  seen 
fit  to  conceal  their  feelings  of  disappointment 
from  the  President  when  they  bade  him.  good-by,  it 
certainly  was  not  my  business  to  "  tell  tales  out  of 
school."  The  President  expressed  his  astonish 
ment  that  he  had  been  kept  in  the  dark  about  so 
grave  a  matter  as  the  emptying  and  filling  of  the 
most  important  federal  offices  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
Then  he  anxiously  asked  if  there  was  any  way  by 
which  the  California  congressmen  could  be  reached 
and  brought  back ;  and  when  told  that  two  of  them 
were  still  in  New  York,  he  produced  a  telegraph 
blank  and  insisted  that  I  should  at  once  write  a 
despatch  to  Messrs.  Sargent  and  Low,  and  request 
them  to  return  to  Washington  and  see  the  Presi 
dent.  With  that  careful  attention  to  the  smallest 
details  which  always  characterized  Lincoln,  he 
enjoined  upon  me  that  I  should  send  the  despatch 
and  collect  from  him  the  charge  therefor  the  next 
time  I  came  to  the  White  House.  The  despatch 
was  sent,  the  two  congressmen  were  recalled,  and  the 
slate  which  Secretary  Chase  had  so  carefully  pre- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  119 

pared  was  eventually  broken.  Subsequently  Mr. 
Lincoln  informed  me  that  Mr.  Chase  was  "  exceed 
ingly  hurt"  by  the  President's  interference  with 
his  plans.  A  curious  outcome  of  all  this  business 
was  that  Secretary  Chase,  having  been  disappointed 
in  his  scheme  for  filling  the  office  of  collector  of  the 
port  of  San  Francisco,  insisted  that  one  of  the  two 
congressmen  who  had  returned  to  Washington 
should  be  appointed  in  place  of  the  person  whom 
he  (Chase)  had  previously  selected  for  the  post. 
The  President  suggested  that  all  three  congress 
men  should  get  together  in  San  Francisco,  agree 
upon  the  list  of  appointments,  and  send  it  to  him 
for  ratification  and  approval.  This,  however, 
seemed  impracticable ;  and  when  Messrs.  Sargent 
and  Low  finally  sailed  for  California,  Mr.  Low 
carried  with  him  his  commission  as  collector  of  the 
port. 

Victor  Smith,  formerly  a  resident  of  Ohio,  and  a 
personal  friend  of  Secretary  Chase,  was  one  of  the 
disturbing  elements  that  made  the  great  Secretary's 
last  days  in  the  Treasury  Department  turbulent 
and  unhappy.  Victor  Smith  had  been  appointed 
by  the  Secretary  to  the  place  of  collector  of  cus 
toms  at  Port  Townsend,  Washington  Territory. 
Smith  was  a  restless  visionary,  and  in  these  later 
days  would  have  been  called  a  crank.  While  he 
was  collector  at  Port  Townsend,  Smith  succeeded 
in  inducing  the  government  to  move  the  custom 
house  from  that  point  to  another  on  Puget  Sound. 
It  was  a  foolish  and  harebrained  scheme,  and 
created  a  bitter  feeling  among  business  men.  His 
new  place  was  named  Port  Angelos.  There  the 


120  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

collector  maintained  himself  for  a  time  in  a  semi- 
barbaric  proprietorship.  It  is  related  of  him  that 
he  once  invited  the  officers  of  the  revenue  cutter 
Shubrick  to  dine  at  his  house;  and  the  officers, 
considering  that  the  collector  of  the  port  was  a 
high  functionary,  arrayed  themselves  in  full  dress, 
with  swords,  gold  lace,  and  other  gorgeous  insignia 
of  their  station,  and  went  ashore  in  state  to  wait 
upon  Collector  Smith  at  his  mansion,  which  was 
then  in  an  unfinished  condition.  In  due  course  of 
time  the  collector,  assisted  by  his  wife,  brought 
out  two  carpenter's  saw-horses,  on  which  was 
placed  a  board  covered  with  wrapping-paper.  The 
repast,  which  was  as  simple  as  any  ever  partaken 
of  by  the  hermits  of  olden  time,  was  then  set  forth ; 
and  Smith,  taking  from  his  pockets  three  big 
apples,  gave  one  to  each  of  the  three  officers,  with 
a  small  forked  stick,  remarking :  "  You  '11  have 
to  roast  your  own  apples." 

This  eccentric  functionary  once  informed  me  that 
he  had  "  so  intertwined  himself  in  the  fibers  of  the 
government  that  his  removal  from  office  was  an 
impossibility."  Nevertheless,  the  outcry  against 
Smith  was  so  great  that  the  President  told  Secre 
tary  Chase  that  the  man  must  go.  Every  federal 
officer,  and  nearly  every  prominent  citizen  in  the 
Puget  Sound  collection  district,  had  written  letters 
or  signed  memorials  protesting  against  the  contin 
uance  of  Smith  in  his  office,  and  had  demanded  his 
removal  and  the  return  of  the  custom-house  to  the 
point  from  which  it  had  been  so  needlessly  carried 
away.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  obdu 
rate  ;  but  finally,  in  May,  1863,  the  harassed  Presi- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  121 

dent  "  took  the  bull  by  the  horns,"  and  resolved 
upon  Smith's  removal.  The  stream  of  expostula 
tions,  protests,  and  remonstrances  that  poured  in 
upon  him  from  the  distracted  region  over  which 
Victor  Smith  reigned  had  become  intolerable ;  but, 
kind  and  considerate  to  the  last,  the  President  wrote 
to  the  Secretary  (as  we  learn  from  the  Nicolay-Hay 
history  of  Lincoln)  to  this  effect : 

My  mind  is  made  up  to  remove  Victor  Smith  as  col 
lector  of  the  customs  at  the  Puget  Sound  district.  Yet 
in  doing  this  I  do  not  decide  that  the  charges  against  him 
are  true ;  I  only  decide  that  the  degree  of  dissatisfaction 
with  him  there  is  too  great  for  him  to  be  retained.  But 
I  believe  he  is  your  personal  acquaintance  and  friend, 
and  if  you  desire  it  I  will  try  to  find  some  other  place 
for  him. 

When  the  Secretary  received  this  note,  he  made 
out  a  commission  for  Victor  Smith's  successor, 
wrote  his  own  resignation  as  Secretary  of  the  Trea 
sury,  and  sent  both  to  the  President.  This  was  only 
one  of  several  instances  in  which  Chase  manifested 
his  disposition  to  retire  from  the  public  service  in 
case  his  will  was  thwarted  in  any  particular ;  but 
once  more  the  President  succeeded  in  placating  the 
ruffled  Secretary,  who  still  remained  at  the  head  of 
the  Treasury  Department,  notwithstanding  the  re 
moval  of  the  petty  officer  from  his  distant  post  on 
Puget  Sound'. 

There  is  an  interesting  sequel  to  this  story.  One 
of  the  most  conspicuous  opponents  of  Victor  Smith 
was  Dr.  A.  G.  Henry,  surveyor-general  of  Washing 
ton  Territory,  an  old  friend  of  the  President,  whose 


122  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

name  has  been  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter  of 
these  reminiscences.  He  was  the  bearer  of  a  load 
of  remonstrances  that  were  finally  influential  in  de 
termining  the  removal  of  Victor  Smith.  Dr.  Henry 
and  Smith  had  long  been  on  terms  of  enmity,  and 
always  declined  to  recognize  each  other  when  they 
passed  by.  On  my  return  to  California  after  Lin 
coln's  death,  in  1865,  Dr.  Henry  was  a  fellow-pas 
senger  on  the  steamer  from  New  York  to  Aspin- 
wall.  Victor  Smith  had  been  in  Washington  on 
some  one  of  his  many  busy  errands,  and  had  de 
parted  for  home  on  the  steamer  Golden  Rule,  of  the 
Nicaragua  line,  and  in  her  had  been  wrecked  on 
Roncador  Reef,  since  made  famous  by  the  catas 
trophe  that  deprived  us  of  the  historic  Kearsarge. 
We  found  the  shipwrecked  passengers  at  Panama 
waiting  for  transportation  to  San  Francisco,  and 
most  of  them  embarked  with  us,  Smith  among  the 
number.  This  addition  to  our  passenger-list  crowded 
the  ship,  and  the  newer  arrivals  were  distributed 
among  those  who  had  previously  been  allotted  in 
dividual  cabins.  Soon  after  we  left  our  moorings  in 
Panama  Bay,  Dr.  Henry  came  to  me,  in  great  agita 
tion  of  mind,  with  the  information  that  in  the  new 
allotment  Victor  Smith  had  been  given  a  berth  in 
his  (Henry's)  room.  "  I  would  n't  dare  to  sleep  in 
the  same  room  with  that  viper,"  said  the  doctor,  ex 
citedly.  "  He  might  get  up  and  kill  me  in  the  night. 
You  know  the  purser ;  I  wish  you  would  go  to  him 
and  see  if  you  cannot  have  Smith  put  in  some  other 
man's  room.  I  don't  care  who  else  is  put  into  my 
room  ;  but  Smith  I  will  not  have."  Smiling  at  the 
good  doctor's  vehemence,  I  started  for  the  purser's 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  123 

office,  but  was  intercepted  by  Victor  Smith,  who 
said :  "  They  have  put  me  in  the  same  state-room 
with  that  old  devil,  Dr.  Henry.  You  know  the 
purser ;  I  wish  you  would  use  your  influence  with 
him  and  have  me  put  in  some  other  room.  I  would 
n't  dare  to  sleep  in  the  same  room  with  that  man." 
The  necessary  change  was  made,  and  Dr.  Henry  and 
Victor  Smith  were  not  obliged  to  recognize  each 
other's  existence  on  that  ship  at  least. 

Bat  when  they  reached  San  Francisco  later  in 
the  month  (July,  1865),  they  both,  with  great  reluc 
tance,  took  passage  on  the  steamer  Brother  Jonathan, 
bound  for  Portland,  Oregon.  There  was  no  alter 
native  except  the  slow  transit  by  stage  from  Sacra 
mento  northward.  The  Brother  Jonathan  struck  on 
a  reef  on  this  her  last  ill-fated  voyage,  and  nearly 
all  on  board  perished,  among  the  lost  being  General 
George  Wright,  who,  having  survived  the  perils  of 
war,  was  then  on  his  way  to  take  command  of  the 
Department  of  the  Columbia.  The  waves  also  en 
gulfed  Dr.  Henry  and  Victor  Smith.  In  the  supreme 
moment,  when  certain  death  yawned  before  these 
two  determined  enemies,  did  they  clasp  hands  and 
forgive  the  past  1 

The  tragical  episode  that  marked  the  close  of  the 
career  of  Dr.  Henry,  Lincoln's  good  friend,  may  best 
be  concluded  here  with  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Lincoln 
in  which  touching  reference  is  made  to  him  and  to 
her  husband.  I  may  as  well  explain  that  the  "  claims  " 
referred  to  in  Mrs.  Lincoln's  letter  were  certain 
shares  of  "  wild-cat "  stock,  sent  to  her  in  her  days 
of  prosperity,  and  which  the  poor  lady  thought 
might  be  sold  for  a  small  sum.  This  is  her  letter; 


124  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN^    TIME 


CHICAGO,  May  11,  1866. 

NOAH  BROOKS,  ESQ.,  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  A  few  days  since  I  received  a  very  sad 
letter  from  Mrs.  Henry,  in  which  she  vividly  portrays 
her  great  desolation  and  dependence  upon  others  for 
every  earthly  comfort.  I  am  induced  to  enclose  you  the 
Nevada  claims  and  also  a  petroleum  claim,  hoping  that 
you  may  be  able  to  secure  a  purchaser  for  them,  in  which 
case  I  will  most  cheerfully  give  Mrs.  Henry  some  of  the 
proceeds.  I  am  aware  that  I  am  taxing  your  kindness  very 
greatly,  yet  the  remembrance  of  your  great  esteem  for 
my  beloved  husband  and  Dr.  Henry  would  excuse  the 
intrusion  upon  you.  I  wish  you  were  not  so  far  removed 
from  us — true  friends,  in  these  overwhelming  days  of 
affliction,  I  find  to  be  very  rare.  I  find  myself  clinging 
more  tenderly  to  the  memory  of  those  who,  if  not  so 
remote,  would  be  more  friendly. 

I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  visit  Mrs.  Henry  the  coming 
summer.  I  sometimes,  in  my  wildness  and  grief,  am 
tempted  to  believe  that  it  is  some  terrible,  terrible  dream, 
and  that  my  idolized  husband  will  return  to  me.  Poor 
Dr.  Henry !  he  who  wept  so  truly  and  freely  with  us  in 
our  great  misfortune,  how  soon  he  was  called  to  join  the 
beloved  one  who  had  so  recently  "  gone  before  "  !  In  my 
own  great  sorrow,  how  often  I  have  prayed  for  death  to 
end  my  great  misery  ! 

My  sons  'are  well,  and  a  great  comfort  to  me.  .  .  . 
Robert  and  Taddie  remember  you  very  kindly.  I  hope 
you  will  write  to  us  more  frequently.  I  am  well  aware 
of  the  deep  sympathy  you  feel  for  us,  and  the  great 
affection  and  confidence  my  husband  cherished  for  you 
draws  you  very  near  to  us.  With  apologies  for  troubling 
you  as  I  am  now  doing,  I  remain  always  sincerely  your 
friend,  MARY  LINCOLN. 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  125 

THE   RESIGNATION   OF   CHASE 

LINCOLN  was  greatly  exasperated  by  the  Victor 
Smith  incident ;  and  when  he  had  finally  disposed 
of  the  matter,  as  he  thought,  he  was  much  depressed 
by  frequent  repetitions  of  similar  complications. 
From  him  and  from  one  of  the  senators  who 
waited  upon  him  after  Chase's  resignation  I  learned 
the  facts  of  the  last  trial  of  the  patience  of  the 
long-suffering  Lincoln.  The  crisis  which  made  it 
impossible  for  Mr.  Chase  to  stay  any  longer  in  the 
Treasury  Department  was  brought  on,  as  every 
body  knows,  by  his  determination  to  have  his  own 
way  in  making  several  important  appointments  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
trouble  began  long  before,  when  Secretary  Chase 
grew  more  and  more  determined  to  resent  inter 
ference  with  any  of  the  appointments  in  the  Trea 
sury  Department.  Whether  his  ambition  to  be 
president  of  the  United  States  had  anything  to  do 
with  this  hardening  of  his  will  in  the  matter  of 
executive  patronage,  it  is  impossible  to  say ;  but 
from  the  time  that  his  name  was  brought  promi 
nently  before  the  public  by  Senator  Porneroy,  of 
Kansas,  and  others,  until  his  final  exit  from  the 
Treasury  Department,  Mr.  Chase  was  continually 
in  hot  water.  His  resignation,  handed  in  when 
Victor  Smith's  removal  was  determined  upon  by 
the  President,  was  written  in  May,  1863.  His  final 
resignation  was  tendered  in  June,  1864.  It  would 
appear  that  Mr.  Chase  believed  that  his  great 
position  in  the  United  States  Government  was 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  the  republic, 


126  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME 

and  that  lie  could  not  be  permitted  to  leave  it 
without  inviting  disaster  ;  and  his  frequent  threats 
of  resignation  were  intended,  apparently,  to  coerce 
the  President  into  letting  him  have  his  own  way 
in  all  matters  of  detail. 

When  the  nomination  of  David  Tod,  of  Ohio, 
went  to  the  Senate  in  place  of  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
resigned,  the  senators  were  struck  dumb  with 
amazement.  In  executive  session  the  whole  mat 
ter  was  at  once  referred  to  the  Finance  Committee, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  Senators  Fessenden,  Conness, 
Sherman,  Cowan,  and  Van  Winkle  were  on  their 
way  to  the  White  House.  They  had  two  questions 
to  ask.  One  was,  Why  has  Chase  resigned,  and  is 
the  act  final?  And  the  other  was,  Why  has  the 
name  of  David  Tod  been  sent  to  the  Senate !  The 
President  received  the  senators  with  great  affa 
bility,  and  there  was  a  general  and  free  discussion 
of  the  situation,  Senator  Fessenden,  chairman  of 
the  Finance  Committee,  being  the  mouthpiece  of 
the  visiting  statesmen.  The  President  immediately 
disposed  of  the  Tod  branch  of  the  complication  by 
reading  a  telegram  from  Governor  Tod  declining 
the  nomination.  Then  he  gave  the  senators  a  full 
history  of  the  original  formation  of  the  cabinet  in 
1861,  explaining  why  each  man  had  been  chosen, 
and  expressing  his  great  confidence  in  Secretary 
Chase's  abilities  and  integrity.  Then  he  followed 
with  a  detailed  statement  of  the  relations  that  had 
existed  between  himself  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  since  the  latter  had  taken  office.  He  told 
the  senators  all  the  incidents  concerning  the  many 
times  that  Chase  had  offered  his  resignation,  and 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  127 

he  referred  to  the  ill  temper  which  the  Secretary 
had  betrayed  on  those  occasions.  Then  he  took 
from  a  pigeonhole  all  the  correspondence  between 
himself  and  the  Secretary,  showing  numerous  in 
stances  of  the  testiness  of  the  Secretary  and  the 
much-enduring  patience  of  the  President  during  a 
period  stretching  over  nearly  all  the  years  of  the 
administration  down  to  that  day. 

Lincoln  said  that  of  course  Mr.  Chase  had  a  full 
right  to  indulge  in  his  ambition  to  be  president, 
and  there  was  no  question  as  to  his  claim  upon  the 
gratitude  of  the  American  people;  but  indiscreet 
friends  of  the  Secretary  had  succeeded  in  exciting 
a  feeling  disagreeable  in  itself,  and  embarrassing 
to  the  President  and  to  the  Secretary.  This  had 
gone  on,  he  said,  until  they  disliked  to  meet  each 
other;  and  to  him  (Lincoln)  the  relation  had  be 
come  unendurable,  and  he  had  accepted  the  resig 
nation  of  Mr.  Chase  as  a  finality.  He  told  the 
committee  that  he  would  not  continue  to  be  presi 
dent  with  Mr.  Chase  in  the  cabinet;  that  if  the 
Senate  should  insist  upon  it,  they  could  have  his 
resignation,  and  take  Mr.  Harnlin  for  president. 
Of  one  of  the  appointments  which  Secretary  Chase 
had  insisted  upon  President  Lincoln  spoke  with 
considerable  feeling.  This  appointment,  which 
Chase  had  adhered  to  tenaciously,  and  which  Lin 
coln  said  was  discreditable  to  the  Secretary,  was 
one  which  the  President  insisted  never  would  be 
made  with  his  consent.  He  told  the  senators  that 
at  a  party  where  Mr.  Chase's  chosen  appointee  was 
present,  this  person  was  intoxicated,  and  kicked 
his  hat  in  the  air  in  the  presence  of  ladies  and 


128  WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME 

gentlemen.  Lincoln  said  he  had  told  Chase  that 
he  wonld  take  any  other  nomination  which  he 
(Chase)  would  send  him,  but  this  man  he  could  not 
and  would  not  accept.  Chase,  notwithstanding 
Lincoln's  statement  concerning  the  man's  habits 
and  character,  persisted  in  urging  the  nomination 
upon  the  President.  This,  Lincoln  said,  was  "  the 
last  straw."  As  we  know,  Tod's  declination  of  the 
nomination  left  the  President  free  to  send  another 
name  to  the  Senate,  and  the  Finance  Committee  of 
that  body  was  then  for  the  first  time  enlightened 
as  to  the  unfortunate  relations  which  had  so  long 
existed  between  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and 
the  President. 

The  way  was  now  clear,  and  the  next  surprise  to 
which  the  public  was  treated  was  the  nomination 
and  immediate  confirmation  of  Senator  William 
Pitt  Fessenden  as  secretary  of  the  treasury.  It 
was  a  picturesque  feature  of  this  latter  part  of  the 
business  that  Senator  Fessenden  was  in  the  Presi 
dent's  office  conferring  with  him  on  the  situation 
of  affairs  while  his  own  nomination  as  successor  to 
Chase  was  on  its  way  to  the  Senate  ;  and  when  Fes 
senden  learned  from  the  President  that  that  nomi 
nation  had  actually  been  made,  he  went  in  hot  haste 
to  the  capitol,  only  to  find  that  the  appointment 
had  been  confirmed  before  he  could  enter  his  pro 
test  against  it. 

That  evening  I  was  at  the  White  House,  and  Mr. 
Lincoln  sent  for  me  to  come  into  the  library,  where 
I  found  him  lying  upon  his  back  on  a  sofa,  with 
his  hands  clasped  over  his  chest,  and  looking  weary 
beyond  description.  But  he  was  in  a  comfortable 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  129 

frame  of  mind ;  and,  after  going  over  the  incidents 
of  this  exciting  episode,  he  said  cheerfully,  "  When 
I  finally  struck  the  name  of  Fessenden  as  Governor 
Chase's  successor,  I  felt  as  if  the  Lord  had  n't  for 
saken  me  yet." 

It  is  well  known  that  the  friends  of  Secretary 
Chase,  and  probably  some  of  Lincoln's,  insisted 
upon  fomenting  strife  between  these  two  illustrious 
men  long  after  the  Secretary  had  retired  to  private 
life  and  Lincoln's  second  nomination  and  election 
had  eliminated  the  presidential  question,  for  a  time 
at  least,  from  all  other  relations  which  affected  the 
two  men.  This  mischievous  influence  was  at  work 
when,  on  the  death  of  Roger  B.  Taney,  the  great 
office  of  chief  justice  of  the  United  States  became 
vacant,  and  Chase's  name  was  immediately  brought 
forward  by  his  friends  and  admirers,  who  hoped  to 
see  him  succeed  to  that  post.  Senator  Surnner  and 
other  radical  Republicans  at  once  deluged  Lincoln 
with  letters  and  telegrams  beseeching  him  to  nomi 
nate  Chase  as  chief  justice.  On  the  other  hand, 
Lincoln  was  overwhelmed  with  protests  from  his 
own  political  and  personal  friends,  who  reminded 
him  that  Chase  had  not  "  behaved  well  "  while  sec 
retary  of  the  treasury,  and  had  embarrassed  the 
President  with  his  inordinate  ambition. 

While  the  matter  was  pending,  I  had  occasion  to 
call  on  the  President,  and  the  rumors  of  Chase's  ap 
pointment  naturally  came  up  for  discussion.  Mr. 
Lincoln  had  been,  for  him,  very  gay  and  cheery; 
but  as  soon  as  Chase  and  the  chief -justiceship  were 
mentioned,  his  visage  lengthened,  and  with  great 
seriousness  he  pointed  to  a  pile  of  telegrams  and 


130  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

letters  on  his  table,  and  said :  "  I  have  been  all  day, 
and  yesterday  and  the  day  before,  besieged  by  mes 
sages  from  my  friends  all  over  the  country,  as  if 
there  were  a  determination  to  put  up  the  bars  be 
tween  Governor  Chase  and  myself."  Then,  after  a 
pause,  he  added:  "But  I  shall  nominate  him  for 
chief  justice,  nevertheless."  It  was  therefore  with 
amusement  that  I  learned  from  one  of  Chase's  most 
ardent  friends,  about  an  hour  later,  that  "  Lincoln 
was  not  great  enough  to  nominate  Secretary  Chase 
as  chief  justice ; "  and  with  inward  satisfaction  I 
bore  in  silence  much  contumely  and  reproach  from 
Chase's  fast  friends,  from  that  time  until  the  country 
was  delighted  by  the  intelligence  that  Chase's  nomi 
nation  had  been  sent  to  the  Senate  on  December  6, 
1864,  in  a  message  written  by  the  President's  own 
hand. 

The  political  complications  which  immediately 
preceded  the  presidential  nominations  of  1864  were 
extremely  distressing  to  Lincoln.  Washington  was 
in  a  ferment,  and  to  some  degree,  although  not  to 
the  extent  that  Washington  politicians  believed, 
the  country  was  responsive  to  the  excitement  which 
prevailed  at  the  national  capital.  It  had  become 
evident  that  Lincoln's  nomination  was  impending, 
although  the  friends  of  Mr.  Chase  insisted  that  his 
renomination  was  unlikely,  and  that  his  reelection 
was  an  absolute  impossibility.  At  this  later  day, 
when  the  political  events  of  1864  lie  behind  us  like 
landmarks  in  a  road  over  which  we  have  securely 
traveled,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  any  man 
of  even  moderate  sagacity  could  have  supposed,  as 
not  a  few  men  did,  that  Lincoln  had  a  very  slight 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN^    TIME  131 

chance  of  renomination  and  none  at  all  of  reelec 
tion.  It  is  difficult  also  to  comprehend,  even  now, 
the  motives  that  induced  so  many  honest  and  ear 
nest  Republicans  at  the  seat  of  government  to  be  at 
great  pains,  as  they  were,  to  defeat  what  seemed 
to  be  the  popular  will  respecting  Lincoln.  It  was 
urged  by  the  friends  of  Mr.  Chase  that  no  man 
should  be  elected  to  a  second  term  of  the  presi 
dency  ;  and  it  was  well  known  that  Mr.  Chase  him 
self  made  no  secret  of  his  strong  belief  in  the  sav 
ing  grace  of  the  one-term  principle.  Many  people 
were  dissatisfied  with  the  alleged  slowness  of  the 
Lincoln  administration  as  regarded  both  political 
and  military  operations.  On  the  other  hand,  many 
ardent  Union  men,  in  zealous  advocacy  of  what 
they  conceived  to  be  the  conservative  policy  of  the 
administration,  went  quite  as  far  on  the  other  tack 
as  the  radicals  did  in  the  direction  of  a  more  vigor 
ous  and  aggressive  policy  on  the  part  of  the  Presi 
dent  and  his  cabinet.  The  eddying  currents  of 
political  opinion  surged  about  the  capitol  while 
Congress  was  in  session;  and  in  both  branches  of 
that  body  the  rival  factions  skirmished  with  each 
other,  their  real  purpose  being  thinly  veiled  by  a 
pretense  of  earnest  devotion  to  the  public  business. 
The  Missouri  imbroglio  was  a  source  of  perpetual 
annoyance  to  the  great  body  of  public  men  who  had 
no  special  interest  in  the  unreasonable  quarrel  that 
raged  in  that  State.  Beginning  with  the  brief  and 
brilliant  reign  of  General  Fremont,  and  extending 
almost  to  the  close  of  the  war,  the  Unionist  party  in 
Missouri  was  divided  into  two  hostile  camps,  radi 
cal  and  conservative.  These  never  became  friends 


132  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN^  TIME 

and  allies  so  long  as  the  war  endured,  and  political 
matters  were  consequently  hopelessly  mixed  in  Mis 
souri.  The  quarrel  was  at  its  height  during  General 
Schofield's  administration  of  military  rule  in  the 
State,  before  the  civil  authority  reasserted  itself. 
Finally,  when  B.  Gratz  Brown  and  John  B.  Hen 
derson  came  to  the  United  States  Senate  as  rep 
resentatives  respectively  of  the  radical  and  the 
conservative  wings  of  the  Union  party,  there  was 
for  a  while  something  like  an  armed  truce.  The 
Blair  family,  however,  with  a  proclivity  to  mischief- 
making  that  was  amazing,  succeeded  in  fomenting 
the  Missouri  quarrel  whenever  it  showed  any  indi 
cations  of  simmering  down.  Frank  P.  Blair,  Jr., 
took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Representatives  with 
the  avowed  determination  of  showing  up,  as  he 
expressed  it,  the  corruption  which  existed  in  the 
administration  of  the  Treasury  Department  in  Mis 
souri.  He  represented  the  so-called  conservative 
wing  of  his  party,  and  he  demanded  the  appoint 
ment  of  a  committee  to  inquire  into  and  report  upon 
the  alleged  infraction  by  treasury  agents  of  the  act 
of  Congress  regulating  commercial  intercourse  with 
the  States  declared  to  be  in  insurrection.  As  a 
counterblast  to  this,  some  of  the  Missouri  radicals 
brought  charges  against  Blair  in  which  it  was  al 
leged  that  he,  as  a  commanding  general  in  the  Fif 
teenth  Army  Corps  near  Vicksburg  in  the  summer 
of  1863,  with  his  officers,  had  been  engaged  in  a 
large  speculation,  in  the  course  of  which  brandy, 
whisky,  beer,  wines,  cigars,  tobacco,  and  canned 
fruits  had  been  bought  in  St.  Louis,  and  smuggled 
through  the  military  lines  for  the  use  of  rebel  offi- 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  133 

cers  on  the  other  side  of  the  military  boundaries. 
The  result  of  this  charge  against  Blair  was  harm 
less.  It  was  proved  that  a  small  order  given  by 
General  Blair  and  his  staff,  the  total  cost  of  which 
would  not  have  exceeded  one  hundred  and  fifty  or 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars,  had  been 
fraudulently  expanded  by  the  agent  to  whom  it  was 
intrusted,  so  that  it  called  for  a  variety  of  goods 
amounting  to  about  nine  thousand  dollars  in  value. 
This  disgraceful  episode  was  only  one  of  many 
which  marked  the  long  and  stormy  discussions 
dragged  into  the  House  day  after  day  by  the  quar 
relsome  Missouri  members ;  at  the  same  time,  Mont 
gomery  Blair  in  Maryland  was  pursuing  Henry 
Winter  Davis,  a  radical  Republican,  with  the  same 
relentlessness  with  which  his  brother  Frank  kept 
on  the  track  of  the  Missouri  radicals. 

General  Schofield,  who  had  been  military  gover 
nor  of  Missouri  during  its  reconstruction  period, 
was  nominated  by  the  President  for  promotion  to 
the  rank  of  major-general  in  the  volunteer  army. 
As  this  happened  during  the  height  of  the  Missouri 
excitement,  Gratz  Brown  in  the  Senate,  and  his 
radical  colleagues  in  the  House,  fell  afoul  of  the 
nomination  with  rage  and  determination.  Mean 
while,  however,  the  War  Department  had  attempted 
to  quiet  the  disturbance  by  providing  for  Schofield 
at  another  point,  and  putting  Rosecrans  in  his  place. 
Although  the  changing  of  Schofield  removed  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  bitterness  of  the  radical 
Missourians,  opposition  to  his  military  promotion 
was  still  kept  up,  and  Washington  politics  for  weeks 
apparently  consisted  of  nothing  but  the  rumors  and 


134  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

reports  which  circulated  about  General  Schofield's 
nomination  and  his  confirmation  by  the  Senate. 

The  Blair  family  also  came  to  the  front  conspic 
uously  in  the  fall  of  1863,  in  a  speech  made  at  Kock- 
ville,  Maryland,  in  October,  by  Montgomery  Blair, 
then  Postmaster-Greneral.  The  speech,  which  was 
an  elaborate  defense  of  the  alleged  conservative  pol 
icy  of  the  President,  was  also  a  bitter  arraignment 
of  prominent  members  of  the  cabinet,  senators,  and 
representatives.  The  speech  was  subsequently  is 
sued  in  pamphlet  form,  and  created  considerable 
stir  in  Washington,  and  among  the  President's  real 
friends  in  Maryland.  The  title-page  of  the  pam 
phlet  edition  of  this  speech  gave  the  speaker  con 
siderable  fictitious  importance  as  "  a  member  of 
Lincoln's  cabinet,"  and  'the  speech  was  ingeniously 
worded  so  as  to  endue  it  with  an  appearance  of  hav 
ing  been  sanctioned  by  the  President  in  order  to  set 
himself  right  before  the  people  as  against  the  wicked 
aspersions  of  the  more  radical  men  in  his  party.  Of 
course  Lincoln  eventually  heard  of  this  extraordi 
nary  oration,  and  a  friend,  calling  on  him  one  day, 
found  him  reading  a  little  slip  cut  from  a  newspa 
per,  from  which  he  was  endeavoring  to  get  some 
idea  of  the  then  famous  Rockville  speech.  The 
visitor  offered  to  send  the  President  a  copy  of  the 
pamphlet  as  published  by  Blair ;  and,  at  his  request, 
I  took  it  to  the  President,  who  was  greatly  amused, 
as  well  as  astonished,  by  the  ingeniously  worded 
title-page  of  that  queer  document. 

Later  on  in  that  month,  just  after  the  Pennsyl 
vania  State  elections,  William  D.  Kelley  and  Colo 
nel  John  W.  Forney  called  on  the  President  with 


WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN^  TIME  135 

their  congratulations,  and  Forney  very  plainly  said 
to  the  President  (Blair  being  then  present)  that  his 
conservative  friend,  Governor  Curtin,  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  desired  the  President  to  know  that  if  the 
Rockville  speech  of  Postmaster-General  Blair  had 
been  made  thirty  days  earlier,  it  would  have  lost 
the  Union  ticket  in  Pennsylvania  twenty  thousand 
votes.  To  Blair  Forney  also  expressed  his  aston 
ishment  that  he,  a  cabinet  officer,  should  have  had 
the  hardihood  to  utter  such  sentiments  in  public 
just  on  the  eve  of  important  elections  in  other 
States.  Blair  responded  that  whatever  Forney 
might  think  of  the  matter,  he  had  only  spoken  his 
honest  sentiments  at  Rockville.  "  Then,"  said  the 
angry  Forney,  turning  upon  Blair,  "  why  don't  you 
leave  the  cabinet,  and  not  load  down  with  your  in 
dividual  and  peculiar  sentiments  the  administra 
tion  to  which  you  belong  ?  "  The  President  sat  by, 
a  silent  spectator  of  this  singular  and  unexpected 
scene. 

Colonel  Forney  gave  me  an  account  of  this  affair, 
and  probably  other  newspaper  correspondents  had 
it  from  the  same  source.  Among  these,  Whitelaw 
Reid  published  an  account  of  the  interview  which 
was  widely  copied  and  commented  upon.  There 
upon  the  Washington  correspondent  of  the  "New 
York  Herald,"  on  the  authority  of  Postmaster-Gen 
eral  Blair,  denied  that  Colonel  Forney  had  ever  used 
to  him,  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  lan 
guage  attributed  to  him  in  the  reports  of  that  in 
terview.  I  went  to  the  President  with  the  story 
as  it  was  printed ;  and,  having  looked  through  the 
clipping,  he  said  that  he  "  guessed  it  was  about  cor- 


136  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

rect."  The  incident  is  told  here  as  a  good  example 
of  the  difficulties  that  Lincoln  had  with  his  own 
friends,  and  of  the  bitterness  that  divided  some 
of  them  from  each  other.  Nobody  ever  doubted 
Blair's  devotion  and  loyalty  to  Lincoln;  and  cer 
tainly  Forney  never  for  a  moment  considered  any 
man  fit  to  take  Lincoln's  place,  and  heartily  and 
enthusiastically  supported  his  renomination.  Yet 
these  two  men,  Forney  and  Blair,  could  not  meet 
on  amicable  terms. 

In  February,  1864,  the  long- vexed  political  com 
plication  came  to  a  head  in  the  appearance  of  the 
famous  "  secret  circular  "  in  which  Senator  Pome- 
roy,  of  Kansas,  frankly  proposed  the  nomination  of 
Mr.  Chase  for  the  presidency.  This  circular  was 
marked  "strictly  private,"  and  gave  to  Pomeroy, 
whose  initals  were  S.  C.,  the  nickname  of  "  Secret 
Circular  Pomeroy."  At  this  late1  day  it  is  hardly 
worth  while  to  recall  anything  in  that  document 
but  its  main  propositions.  These  were  that  the 
renomination  of  Lincoln  was  not  only  undesirable 
but  impossible ;  that  the  honor  of  the  nation  and 
the  cause  of  liberty  and  union  would  suffer  in  con 
sequence  of  his  reelection;  that  the  "one-term 
principle  "  was  essential  to  the  safety  of  republican 
institutions ;  that  Salmon  P.  Chase  had  more  of  the 
qualities  needed  in  a  president  at  that  critical  time 
than  any  other  man;  and  that  the  discussion  of 
Chase's  availability  had  surprised  his  warmest  ad 
mirers  by  the  development  of  his  strength.  It  is 
one  of  the  curiosities  of  the  time  that  this  queer 
document,  which  was  in  the  hands  of  nearly  every 
newspaper  man  and  politician  in  Washington,  did 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  137 

not  find  its  way  into  the  public  prints  until  several 
days  after  its  private  circulation  began.  Finally, 
on  Washington's  Birthday,  its  appearance  in  the 
"National  Intelligencer"  greatly  excited  the  quid 
nuncs,  although  nearly  everybody  was  already 
familiar  with  its  contents.  It  was  not  until  March 
10,  however,  that  Pomeroy  took  public  notice  of 
the  commotion  which  his  f  ulmination  had  aroused. 
He  was  evidently  pleased  with  his  sudden  noto 
riety.  But  by  that  time  it  had  become  clearly 
manifest  that  Mr.  Chase  could  not  possibly  be  nom 
inated.  The  Unionists  of  his  own  State  had  de 
clared  in  favor  of  Lincoln;  and  on  the  day  after 
that  declaration  was  made,  Pomeroy  rose  in  his 
place  in  the  Senate  and  attempted  to  justify  his 
foolish  circular;  a  letter  was  then  printed  from 
Mr.  Chase  withdrawing  his  name  from  the  politi 
cal  canvass.  Pomeroy,  who  was  an  unctuous  and 
sleek  man,  with  a  rosy  countenance  and  a  suave 
manner,  told  the  senators  that  he  was  the  author 
of  the  now  famous  circular,  but  that  some  person 
whom  he  did  not  name  had  appended  to  it  the  in 
dorsement  "  strictly  private,"  in  order,  as  he  said, 
to  give  it  a  wider  circulation.  He  exulted  in  the 
fact  that  he  was  chairman  of  a  respectable  associa 
tion,  with  widely  ramifying  branches  all  over  the 
country,  whose  object  was  to  secure  the  election  of 
"an  efficient  and  radical  candidate  for  the  presi 
dency  in  opposition  to  the  time-serving  policy  of  the 
day."  He  said  that  Mr.  Chase  "  had  been  drafted 
into  the 'service "  of  that  organization;  and  that 
while  he  (Pomeroy)  should  not  be  considered  as 
making  war  upon  the  present  administration,  he 


138  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

must  insist  that  no  executive  could  long  sustain  it 
self  unless  it  had  strong  party  affiliations  to  uphold 
it  in  Congress  and  in  the  country. 

It  was  inevitable  that  the  Missouri  quarrel  should 
be  dragged  into  the  discussion.  Senator  Wilkin 
son,  of  Minnesota,  who  replied  to  Porneroy,  taunted 
him  with  gross  inconsistency  in  putting  himself  for 
ward  as  a  champion  of  radicalism,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  he  was  exerting  himself  in  the  Senate  to 
secure  the  confirmation  of  General  Schofield,  whose 
supporters  were  the  conservatives  of  the  party. 
The  incident  naturally  attracted  interested  atten 
tion  in  both  houses  of  Congress ;  and  while  Wil 
kinson,  who  was  by  no  means  a  keen  debater,  was 
tantalizing  Pomeroy,  members  came  flocking  over 
from  the  other  end  of  the  capitol,  crowding  the  Sen 
ate-chamber  to  hear  with  amusement  the  parent  of 
the  now  famous  circular  defend  his  action  while  he 
avowed  its  paternity.  It  was  a  desperate  attempt 
to  make  the  best  of  a  failing  cause.  But  it  was  of 
no  avail.  The  tide  of  public  opinion  had  set  too 
strongly  in  the  direction  of  Lincoln  for  any  such 
feeble  efforts  as  those  of  Pomeroy,  Edmunds,  Win- 
chell,  and  their  comrades  to  withstand  the  current 
any  longer.  That  was  a  time  of  dramatic  political 
sensations.  The  coincident  appearance  of  Chase's 
letter,  taking  his  name  out  of  the  list  of  possible 
presidential  candidates,  and  Senator  Poineroy's 
lame  endeavor  to  give  weight  and  reasonableness 
to  the  secret  circular,  were  among  the  excitements 
of  the  day ;  but,  although  Mr.  Chase's  withdrawal, 
and  the  ignominious  collapse  of  the  scheme  in 
whose  interest  the  circular  had  been  prepared,  de- 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  139 

prived  the  radical  disorganizes  of  even  the  sem 
blance  of  a  leader  and  a  head,  it  was  not  until  the 
Union  Republican  Convention  of  1864  had  renomi- 
nated  Lincoln  that  the  restless  arid  querulous  op 
position  to  his  call  to  a  second  term  was  finally 
silenced.  It  is  possible  that  this  brief  recital  of  the 
political  events  that  preceded  Lincoln's  second  elec 
tion  may  suggest  to  politicians  of  this  later  day 
the  ineffectiveness  of  merely  factious  tactics  and 
schemes. 

ENTER  LIEUTENANT-GENEEAL  GEANT 

IT  is  interesting  to  call  to  mind  some  of  the  forces 
which  made  Grant  the  general-in-chief  of  the  armies 
of  the  United  States,  and  some  of  the  incidents  that 
attended  the  consummation  of  that  historic  work. 
It  was  by  no  means  a  grateful  task  for  the  congress 
men  of  that  time  to  lend  a  hand  in  creating  the  grade 
of  lieutenant-general  in  the  army,  although  there 
was  no  question  as  to  the  man  on  whom  the  dis 
tinction  should  be  conferred.  I  doubt  very  much 
if  the  bill  to  revive  the  grade  of  lieutenant-general 
would  have  then  gone  through  Congress  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  general  dissatisfaction  with  Gen 
eral  Halleck,  who  was  acting  as  general-in-chief 
with  headquarters  at  Washington.  This  dissatis 
faction  was  constantly  increasing,  and  although  the 
country  at  large  did  not  seem  to  be  keenly  alive  to 
Halleck's  inadequacy  to  the  situation,  Washington, 
and  especially  the  chambers  of  Congress,  resounded 
with  complaints  of  his  sluggishness,  his  unwilling 
ness  to  take  responsibilities,  and  his  supposed  in- 


140  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

capacity  to  grasp  the  whole  military  situation.  I 
doubt  if  the  most  outspoken  and  malignant  Cop 
perhead  in  Congress  was  so  disliked,  so  railed 
against,  and  so  reviled  by  the  more  radical  mem 
bers  as  this  unfortunate  general-in-chief.  The  be 
lief  that  some  new  man,  no  matter  who  he  might 
be,  could  vigorously  prosecute  the  war  and  bring  a 
speedy  peace,  if  he  were  in  Halleck's  place,  made 
possible  the  passage  of  the  bill  reviving  the  rank  of 
lieutenant-general  of  the  army.  Oddly  enough,  men 
who  complained  that  the  President  clung  tena 
ciously  to  General  Halleck  as  his  military  adviser 
never  doubted  for  a  moment  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
more  than  willing  that  the  rank  should  be  revived 
with  the  distinct  understanding  that  Grant  should 
be  the  wearer  of  the  title,  and  by  virtue  thereof  be 
come  at  once  the  generalissimo  of  all  the  military 
forces  of  the  United  States. 

That  the  President  did  cling  to  Halleck  in  spite 
of  the  very  general  popular  disfavor  with  which  the 
general  was  regarded  is  well  known.  When  I  ven 
tured,  one  day,  to  say  to  the  President  that  Halleck 
was  disliked  because  many  people  supposed  that  he 
was  too  timid  and  hesitating  in  his  military  conduct, 
Mr.  Lincoln's  face  at  once  wore  a  grave,  almost  se 
vere  expression,  as  he  said  that  he  was  Halleck's 
friend  because  nobody  else  was.  Other  men  had 
received  from  the  President  a  somewhat  similar  im 
pression  ;  and  whatever  may  have  been  thought  of 
the  very  remote  possibility  that  any  other  man  than 
General  Grant  would  be  called  to  the  head  of  the 
armies,  congressmen  who  were  clamorous  for  a  more 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  were  eagerly  turn- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  141 

ing  to  the  "  lieutenant-general  bill,"  as  it  was  called, 
as  the  readiest  way  to  be  rid  of  General  Halleck's 
alleged  slowness. 

This  fact  was  brought  out  in  the  debate  in  the 
House  when  the  measure  was  under  consideration. 
With  that  free-and-easy  frankness  which  so  distin 
guished  the  House  from  the  Senate,  as  it  was  then 
constituted,  the  representatives  did  not  hesitate  to 
fling  about  a  great  many  personalities  while  they 
discussed  the  expediency  of  reviving  the  grade  of 
lieutenant-general.  When  the  bill  came  up  for  its 
final  passage  on  February  1,  1864,  E.  B.  Wash- 
burne,  who  had  the  measure  in  charge,  distin 
guished  himself  by  the  energy  and  impatience 
with  which  he  fairly  bulldozed  the  House  into  its 
immediate  consideration.  He  ramped  and  roared, 
expostulated  and  threatened,  until  he  wrought  him 
self  into  a  state  of  quivering  excitement.  Wash- 
burne  had  been  from  the  very  first  an  enthusiastic 
believer  in  Grant's  great  military  genius,  and  this 
was  not  only  his  supreme  effort  to  place  on  high 
the  object  of  his  love  and  idolatry,  but,  as  he  be 
lieved,  to  save  the  republic  from  years  of  wasteful 
war.  It  is  entertaining  now  to  recall  the  attitude 
of  some  of  the  conspicuous  congressmen  who  op 
posed  or  supported  the  bill.  Grant,  it  should  be 
remembered,  was  at  that  time  by  no  means  the 
popular  favorite  that  he  very  soon  after  became, 
although  his  wonderful  series  of  successes  in  the 
Southwest  had  even  then  made  him  the  cynosure 
of  all  eyes. 

Garfield,  of  Ohio,  who  had  fought  under  Grant, 
and  was  now  a  member  of  the  House  Military  Com- 


142  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

inittee,  opposed  the  bill  on  the  ground  that  the  rank 
was  not  needed,  and  that  the  President  and  the 
"War  Department  already  had  the  power  to  detail 
any  major-general  to  perform  the  functions  with 
which  a  lieutenant-general  would  be  intrusted.  He 
said  that  if  the  proposed  rank  was  to  be  conferred 
as  a  reward  of  merit,  it  would  be  better  to  wait 
until  the  war  was  over,  and  not  seize  upon  an  im 
mature  reputation  as  worthy  of  so  great  a  reward. 
He  said  that  if  this  rank  had  been  created  two 
years  before,  probably  one  of  the  several  generals 
now  shelved  or  retired  would  have  been  honored 
with  it,  and  the  country  be  thereby  now  mortified. 
Garfield  was  one  of  the  first  who  frankly  said  in 
debate  that  General  Grant  would  probably  be 
nominated  lieutenant-general  if  the  bill  became 
law;  and  he  added  that  the  country  could  not 
spare  Grant  from  the  great  work  he  was  doing  in 
the  West  to  transform  him  into  "  a  bureau  office  in 
Washington."  But,  in  view  of  the  political  influ 
ences  that  would  be  at  work,  he  (Garfield)  was  not 
so  sure  that  Grant  would  be  the  man  after  all. 

Another  member  of  the  Military  Committee — 
General  Farnsworth  of  Illinois — favored  the  bill 
because  General  Grant  was  "no  carpet-knight," 
but  would  command  the  armies  in  person,  "  not  in 
a  richly  furnished  Brussels-carpeted  chamber  in 
Washington,"  after  the  manner  of  some  com- 
manders-in-chief.  This  hit  at  Halleck  was  greatly 
enjoyed  by  the  galleries,  and  a  general  laugh  rip 
pled  over  the  surface  of  the  House.  General  Kob- 
ert  C.  Scheiick,  who  was  chairman  of  the  House 
Military  Committee,  supported  the  bill  not  because 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  143 

lie  believed  General  Grant  was  the  man  to  fill  it, 
but  because  lie  believed  in  the  principle  that  a  mili 
tary  man  should  be  at  the  head  of  the  army  and 
direct  all  operations  in  the  field. 

Washburne  fretted  and  fumed  when  sundry  mem 
bers  rose  with  amendments  of  various  kinds  ;  and 
there  was  every  indication  —  the  previous  question 
not  having  been  seconded  —  that  the  whole  subject 
must  go  over  for  another  day.  "  Thad  "  Stevens 
made  a  little  speech  in  which  he  said,  as  Garfield  had 
said,  that  he  did  not  see  the  use  of  the  proposed 
measure,  because  the  President  already  had  power 
to  appoint  a  general-in-chief  He  also  objected  to 
the  bill  because  it  restricted  the  President  to  the 
choice  of  a  lieutenant-general  from  a  small  number 
of  major-generals.  "  Why  not  allow  military  men 
of  less  note  to  have  equal  footing  in  the  proposed 
race  for  the  great  prize  ?  And  why  not  even  choose 
from  citizens,  some  of  whom  arc  worth  more  than 
many  major-generals,  as  military  men?  Saints  are 
not  canonized  until  after  death,"  he  said,  "  and  the 
greatest  of  reputations  is  not  secure  until  the  pos 
sessor  has  rested  from  his  labors."  Stevens  said 
he  had  been  amused  to  hear  some  of  the  members 
speak  as  though  it  was  certain  that  General  Grant 
would  be  the  honored  recipient  of  the  prize ;  but  he 
was  not  so  certain  of  that.  Judging  from  the  te 
nacity  with  which  the  President  held  on  to  Halleck, 
he  thought  the  present  general-in-chief  might  be 
the  lucky  man. 

Washburne  attempted  to  close  the  debate;  he  said 
he  believed  the  war  would  not  be  ended  until  Grant 
was  placed  in  supreme  command.  In  reply  to  mur- 


144  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

murs  from  the  members  he  shouted :  "  I  can't  wait . 
I  want  this  now.  Grant  must  fight  out  this  war, 
and  he  will  never  leave  the  field  ! "  Washburne's 
patience  fairly  broke  down  when  Whaley  of  West 
Virginia  wanted  to  know  if  the  conferring  of  this 
rank  upon  Grant  would  make  that  general  ineligi 
ble  for  the  presidency.  Washburne  bounced  up, 
white  with  rage,  and  charged  that  the  House  was 
afraid  to  call  for  the  previous  question,  as  members 
would  have  to  go  upon  the  record  in  this  matter ; 
and  he  darkly  hinted  of  another  record  to  be  made 
up  thereafter  which  they  could  not  dodge.  To  Bout- 
well  of  Massachusetts,  who  offered  some  opposition 
to  the  bill,  Washburne  retorted  that  New  England 
was  showing  her  sectional  feeling  in  the  matter  be 
cause  Grant  was  a  Western  man.  Amid  great  heat 
and  considerable  excitement,  the  bill  was  finally 
passed  by  a  vote  of  eighty-six  to  forty- one.  Among 
the  Republicans  who  voted  against  the  bill  were 
Ashley  of  Ohio,  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  Broom- 
all  of  Pennsylvania,  Henry  Winter  Davis,  Garfield, 
G.  W.  Julian  of  Indiana,  William  D.  Kelley  of  Penn 
sylvania,  Thaddeus  Stevens,  and  William  B.  Wash- 
burn  of  Massachusetts.  The  bill  passed  the  Senate 
without  much  debate  on  February  26,  and  three 
days  later  it  was  approved  by  the  President. 

If  there  was  any  doubt  as  to  the  popularity  of 
Grant  in  Washington  (and  he  was  disposed  to  re 
gard  that  city  as  a  place  of  snares),  the  arrival  of 
the  newly-created  lieutenant-general  effectually  dis 
sipated  it.  He  had  been  called  to  the  capital,  and 
arrived  there  late  in  the  afternoon  of  March  8, 1864. 
He  quietly  went  to  Willard's  Hotel  to  get  his  din- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  145 

ner.  At  that  time  he  was  a  rather  slightly  built 
man,  with  stooping  shoulders,  mild  blue  eyes,  and 
light-brown  hair,  with  a  reddish  tinge  in  his  brist 
ling  mustache.  He  had  a  shy  but  manly  bearing, 
wore  a  shabby-looking  military  suit  of  clothes,  and 
seemed  distressed  when  he  was  recognized  by  the 
mob  of  diners.  He  had  been  discovered  there  tak 
ing  his  dinner  just  like  ordinary  mortals ;  and  it 
was  noised  about  that  the  hero  of  Belmont,  Donel- 
son,  and  Vicksburg  was  in  the  room.  A  slight  com 
motion  presently  spread  from  table  to  table ;  people 
got  up  and  craned  their  necks  in  an  anxious  en 
deavor  to  see  "  the  coming  man."  Then  some  en 
thusiastic  admirer,  mounting  a  chair,  called  for 
"  three  cheers  for  Lieutenant-General  Grant."  They 
were  given  with  a  will,  amid  a  pounding  on  the 
tables  which  made  everything  dance.  For  a  few 
minutes  there  was  a  scene  of  wild  confusion,  in  the 
midst  of  which  General  Grant,  looking  very  much 
astonished  and  perhaps  annoyed,  rose  to  his  feet, 
awkwardly  rubbed  his  mustache  with  his  napkin, 
bowed,  and  resumed  his  seat  and  attempted  to  fin 
ish  his  dinner.  The  good  sense  of  the  cheering  pa 
triots  prevailed,  and  the  general  was  allowed  to  eat 
in  peace.  But  as  soon  as  he  had  finished  his  repast, 
and  was  on  his  way  out  of  the  dining-room,  he  was 
taken  in  hand  by  Representative  Moorhead  of  Penn 
sylvania,  who  acted  as  master  of  ceremonies,  and 
introduced  to  the  general  the  mob  of  admirers  who 
now  swooped  down  upon  him.  This  was  his  first 
levee. 

That  evening,  as  it  chanced,  was  the  occasion  of 
the  usual  weekly  reception  at  the  White  House,  and 


146  WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME 

thither  General  Grant  went  by  special  invitation. 
Thither  too  went  throngs  of  people  when  it  was 
known  that  he  would  be  on  view  with  the  President. 
So  great  was  the  crowd,  and  so  wild  the  rush  to  get 
near  the  general,  that  he  was  obliged  at  last  to  mount 
a  sofa,  where  he  could  be  seen,  and  where  he  was  se 
cure,  at  least  for  a  time,  from  the  madness  of  the 
multitude.  People  were  caught  up  and  whirled  in 
the  torrent  which  swept  through  the  great  East 
Room.  Ladies  suffered  dire  disaster  in  the  crush 
and  confusion  ;  their  laces  were  torn  and  crinolines 
mashed  ;  and  many  got  upon  sofas,  chairs,  and  ta 
bles  to  be  out  of  harm's  way  or  to  get  a  better  view 
of  the  spectacle.  It  was  the  only  real  mob  I  ever 
saw  in  the  White  House.  It  was  an  indescribable 
scene  of  curiosity,  joy,  and  pleasure.  For  once  at 
least  the  President  of  the  United  States  was  not  the 
chief  figure  in  the  picture.  The  little,  scared-look 
ing  man  who  stood  on  a  crimson-covered  sofa  was 
the  idol  of  the  hour.  He  remained  on  view  for  a 
short  time ;  then  he  was  quietly  smuggled  out  by 
friendly  hands,  and  next  day  departed  from  the 
city,  which  he  then  appeared  to  dread  so  much,  to 
begin  the  last  and  mightiest  chapter  in  his  military 
career. 

It  is  probable  that  Grant's  early  dislike  and  sus 
picion  of  Washington  and  its  alleged  pernicious 
political  influences  were  partly  due  to  Sherman's 
positive  belief  that  the  national  capital  was  a  hot 
bed  of  intrigue  and  chicane.  I  learned  as  much 
from  the  general's  own  lips  long  after  the  war,  and 
after  his  two  terms  of  the  presidency  had  given  him 
other  views  of  the  city  and  its  influence  in  public 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  147 

affairs.  Sherman  repeatedly  warned  Grant  against 
what  he  considered  its  baleful  moral  miasma.  Dur 
ing  the  summer  succeeding  his  appointment  as 
lieutenant-general,  Grant  did  not  come  often  to 
Washington,  although  his  headquarters  were  for 
most  of  the  time  within  a  day's  journey  of  the  capi 
tal.  Later  in  that  year,  armed  with  a  letter  of  in 
troduction  from  the  President,  I  met  him  at  City 
Point,  while  I  was  on  a  visit  to  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

At  that  time  his  headquarters  were  at  City  Point. 
On  one  side  of  his  wall-tent  stood  the  great  com 
mander's  narrow  bedstead ;  and  a  rude  pine-table 
covered  with  maps  and  papers,  two  or  three  camp- 
chairs,  a  military  chest,  and  a  box  or  two,  made  up 
the  furniture  of  the  headquarters  of  Grant.  The 
cares  of  the  day  were  over  when  we  paid  our  visit, 
and  the  general  began  an  easy,  offhand  talk  about 
politics  and  the  then  late  elections,  which  he  con 
sidered  as  being  of  immense  importance  because, 
as  he  said,  the  political  legislation  of  Congress  was 
now  so  closely  allied  to  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
that  every  officer  watched  its  course  with  the  deep 
est  anxiety.  He  spoke  pleasantly  of  McClellan,  was 
sorry  for  his  personal  mortification  and  defeat  for 
the  presidency,  and  said  that  he  hoped  that  McClel 
lan  would  see  his  way  clear  to  accept  the  handsome 
salary  that  it  was  then  reported  had  been  offered 
him  by  the  Illinois  Central  Bail  road  Company. 
Grant  was  evidently  very  well  informed  as  to  the 
antecedents  and  political  record  of  nearly  all  of  the 
congressmen,  especially  those  from  the  West ;  and 
he  spoke  with  evident  pride  of  his  own  congressional 


148  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

district  (Washburne's)  in  Illinois,  which  had  lately 
given  nine  thousand  majority  for  the  Union  ticket. 
Offering  us  cigars,  he  alluded  jocularly  to  his  na 
tional  notoriety  for  smoking,  and  said  that  this  had 
made  him  somewhat  uncomfortable,  as  he  did  not 
want  to  be  regarded  as  greatly  addicted  to  any  one 
personal  habit,  and  that  he  had  lately  limited  him 
self  to  four  cigars  a  day.  One  of  our  party,  who  did 
not  perhaps  know  that  information  as  to  the  nu 
merical  force  of  an  army  was  regarded  as  "  contra 
band  of  war,"  innocently  asked  General  Grant  how 
many  men  he  had  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  to 
which  the  general  frankly  responded,  "  Oh,  a  great 
many,"  an  observation  which  closed  inquiry  in  that 
direction. 

Grant's  famous  expression,  "  I  propose  to  fight  it 
out  on  this  line,  if  it  takes  all  summer,"  was  first 
made  public  in  a  little  speech  extorted  from  the 
President  a  few  days  after  the  final  battle  of  the 
Wilderness.  The  general,  in  a  letter  to  General 
Halleck  dated  May  11,  1864,  had  used  the  now  his 
toric  phrase ;  and  in  the  evening  of  the  day  on 
which  that  letter  was  received  Washington  had 
broken  loose  with  a  tremendous  demonstration  of 
joy  over  the  recent  victories  achieved  by  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  There  was  something  like  delir 
ium  in  the  air.  Everybody  seemed  to  think  that 
the  war  was  coming  to  an  end  right  away.  Con 
gress  was  in  nominal  session  only,  an  adjournment 
being  taken  every  three  days,  and  the  city  was  still 
filled  with  congressmen  anxious  "to  be  in  at  the 
death,"  as  they  fondly  thought  they  soon  would  be. 

About  nine  o'clock  on  the  evening  referred  to  a 
great  crowd  of  cheering  citizens  surged  around  the 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  149 

White  House,  and  the  President  came  to  the  main 
door  of  the  mansion,  and  stood  bareheaded  OD  the 
platform  of  the  portico.  He  congratulated  the  peo 
ple  on  the  brighter  prospects  of  the  cause  of  the 
Union,  and  gave  them  the  pith  of  General  Grant's 
latest  letter  to  Halleck.  For  a  time  it  appeared  as 
if  most  people  thought  that  Grant  would  close  the 
war  and  enter  Richmond  before  the  autumn  leaves 
began  to  fall.  Yet  it  was  a  full  month  after  that 
day  —  on  June  14  —  that  the  President,  regretfully 
viewing  the  unreasonable  elation  of  friends  of  the 
Union,  said  to  me :  "  I  wish,  when  you  write  or 
speak  to  people,  you  would  do  all  you  can  to  cor 
rect  the  impression  that  the  war  in  Virginia  will 
end  right  off  and  victoriously.  To  me  the  most 
trying  thing  of  all  this  war  is  that  the  people  are 
too  sanguine  ;  they  expect  too  much  at  once.  I  de 
clare  to  you,  sir,  that  we  are  to-day  farther  ahead 
than  I  thought,  one  year  and  a  half  ago,  that  we 
should  be ;  and  yet  there  are  plenty  of  people  who 
believe  that  the  war  is  about  to  be  substantially 
closed.  As  God  is  my  judge,  I  shall  be  satisfied  if 
we  are  over  with  the  fight  in  Virginia  within  a  year. 
I  hope  we  shall  be  i  happily  disappointed,'  as  the 
saying  is  ;  but  I  am  afraid  not  —  I  am  afraid  not." 
The  solemn  manner  of  the  President,  and  the 
weightiness  of  his  utterance,  so  impressed  me  that 
I  drew  toward  me  a  sheet  of  paper  and  wrote  down 
his  words  then  and  there.  Then  I  read  to  him  what 
I  had  written,  in  order  that  I  might  be  sure  that 
he  was  correctly  reported.  He  suggested  a  verbal 
change,  and  I  carried  the  paper  away  with  me. 
At  that  time  the  art  of  interviewing  had  not  been 
invented. 


CHAPTER  V 

TWO   WAK-TIME   CONVENTIONS 

LINCOLN'S  SECOND  NOMINATION — CONTENTION   OVER 

RECONSTRUCTION  PLANS  —  THE  DARK  DAYS  OF  1864  — 

MCCLELLAN'S  NOMINATION  AT  CHICAGO  —  CHASE  ON 

THE   SUPREME   BENCH 

POLITICAL  discussion  in  Washington  during 
the  months  immediately  preceding  the  second 
nomination  of  Lincoln  was  exceedingly  animated. 
Although,  as  we  afterward  found,  the  country  at 
large  really  thought  of  no  name  but  Lincoln's, 
Washington  politicians  were  all  agog  over  a  va 
riety  of  compromises  that  would  placate  the  ultra- 
radicals  of  the  Republican  party,  and  keep  in  line 
the  conservatives.  Fremont  had  been  nominated 
at  a  hybrid  convention  in  Cleveland,  Ohio;  and 
the  enemies  and  unfriendly  critics  of  the  Lincoln 
administration  were  predicting  all  sorts  of  disas 
ters,  political  and  military,  if  the  President  were 
"forced  upon  the  people."  The  commonest  fore 
cast  of  the  situation  made  by  these  pessimists  was 
that  if  the  military  movements  of  1864  were  suc 
cessful,  Grant  would  be  the  next  president;  if  they 
were  unsuccessful,  neither  Grant  nor  Lincoln  could 
be  elected  that  year. 

150 


WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME  151 

The  Democrats,  on  the  other  hand,  were  irrecon 
cilably  divided.  Although  they  were  noticeably 
quiet  during  the  weeks  preceding  the  assembling  of 
the  Union  Republican  National  Convention  at  Bal 
timore  that  summer,  it  was  clear  that  the  "  Peace  " 
and  "  War  "  factions  of  the  party  could  not  possibly 
be  made  to  harmonize.  The  two  hostile  camps  oc 
casionally  fired  a  shot  at  each  other  even  in  the  in 
frequent  sittings  of  Congress.  S.  S.  Cox  was  one 
of  the  more  talkative  and  vivacious  representatives 
who  led  the  War  Democrats  pledged  to  the  cause 
of  McClellan,  and  Fernando  Wood  was  the  acknow 
ledged  leader  in  Congress  of  the  Peace  faction, 
whose  affections  were  fixed  on  Horatio  Seymour. 

The  night  before  the  meeting  of  the  Baltimore 
Convention  I  had  a  long  conversation  with  the 
President  in  regard  to  the  probable  action  of  that 
body.  He  requested  me  to  come  to  him  when  I 
should  return  from  Baltimore,  and  bring  him  the 
odd  bits  of  political  gossip  that  I  might  pick  up  in 
the  convention,  and  which,  as  he  said,  woiild  not 
get  into  the  newspapers.  I  had  hoped  to  see  Mr. 
Hamlin  renominated,  and  had  anxiously  given  Mr. 
Lincoln  many  opportunities  to  say  whether  he  pre 
ferred  the  renomination  of  the  Vice-President ;  but 
he  was  craftily  and  rigidly  non-committal,  knowing, 
as  he  did,  what  was  in  my  mind  concerning  Mr. 
Hamlin.  He  would  refer  to  the  matter  only  in  the 
vaguest  phrase,  as,  "Mr.  Hamlin  is  a  very  good 
man,"  or,  "You,  being  a  New  Englander,  would 
naturally  like  to  see  Mr.  Hamlin  renominated ;  and 
you  are  quite  right,"  and  so  on.  By  this  time  Lin 
coln's  renomination  was  an  absolute  certainty,  and 


152  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

he  cheerfully  conceded  that  point  without  any  false 
modesty.  But  he  could  not  be  induced  to  express 
any  opinion  on  the  subject  of  the  selection  of  a 
candidate  for  vice-president.  He  did  go  so  far 
as  to  say  that  he  hoped  that  the  convention  would 
declare  in  favor  of  the  constitutional  amendment- 
abolishing  slavery  as  one  of  the  articles  of  the  party 
faith.  But  beyond  that,  nothing. 

I  may  say  here  that  when  I  returned  from  the 
convention  I  made  a  verbal  report  to  the  President, 
and  entertained  him  with  an  account  of  some  of  its 
doings  of  which  he  had  not  previously  heard ;  and 
he  was  then  willing  to  admit  that  he  would  have 
been  gratified  if  Mr.  Hamlin  could  have  been  re- 
nominated.  But  he  said :  "  Some  of  our  folks  [re 
ferring,  as  I  believed,  to  Bepublican  leaders]  had 
expressed  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  wise  to  take 
a  War  Democrat  as  candidate  for  vice-president, 
and  that,  if  possible,  a  border-State  man  should  be 
the  nominee."  Mr.  Lincoln  appeared  to  have  ac 
cepted  the  result,  saying,  "  Andy  Johnson,  I  think, 
is  a  good  man."  Nevertheless,  I  have  always  been 
confident  that  Lincoln,  left  to  himself,  would  have 
chosen  that  the  old  ticket  of  1860 — Lincoln  and 
Hamlin  —  should  be  placed  in  the  field.  It  is  rea 
sonable  to  suppose  that  he  had  resolved  to  leave 
the  convention  entirely  free  in  its  choice  of  a  can 
didate  for  the  second  place  on  the  ticket. 

The  convention  which  assembled  in  Baltimore 
June  6, 1864,  was  not  fortunate  in  its  presiding  offi 
cers.  Ex-Governor  E.  D.  Morgan  of  New  York,  as 
chairman  of  the  National  Committee,  called  the 
convention  to  order,  but  did  not  long  remain  in 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  153 

the  chair,  for  which  he  had  no  marked  aptitude. 
The  temporary  chairman  was  the  Rev.  E.  J.  Breck- 
inridge,  of  Kentucky ;  he  had  a  weak  voice  and  an 
irresolute  manner,  and  though  he  made  a  clear  and 
logical  speech  on  taking  the  chair,  and  was  received 
with  a  whirlwind  of  the  most  boisterous  applause, 
he  was  unable  to  make  himself  heard  when  the 
business  of  organization  began,  and  the  vast  crowd 
that  filled  the  Front  Street  Theater  was  unruly  and 
restive  under  renewed  delays.  When  the  States 
were  called  upon  to  present  the  names  of  their  dele 
gates,  Missouri  appeared,  as  usual,  with  rival  dele 
gations.  Another  bone  of  contention  was  the  claim 
of  Tennessee,  then  in  an  inchoate  condition,  to  be 
admitted  to  participation  in  the  doings  of  the  con 
vention.  Horace  Maynard  made  a  stirring  speech 
in  which  he  plaintively  urged  that  "  long-suffering 
and  much-enduring  Tennessee  be  admitted  to  this 
national  council.7'  The  temper  of  the  convention 
was  readily  manifest  when  the  radical  delegation 
from  Missouri  and  the  Tennessee  petitioners  were 
both  admitted  to  seats  in  the  convention.  The 
cheering  that  greeted  the  consummation  of  these 
two  acts  was  something  tremendous.  It  was  evi 
dent  that  the  Missouri  radicals,  after  all,  had  a 
strong  hold  upon  the  delegates  who  represented 
the  loyal  States  in  the  Union.  But  it  was  noted 
with  some  degree  of  acrimony  that  when  the  claims 
of  Tennessee  came  up  for  consideration,  the  Mis- 
sourians,  who  had  only  just  squeezed  in,  were  solidly 
against  allowing  Tennessee  that  recognition  which 
they  had  secured  for  themselves.  It  was  perhaps 
this  evidence  of  selfishness  that  induced  the  con- 


154  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

vention  subsequently  to  admit  also  the  conservative 
delegation  from  Missouri,  thus  giving  both  sides 
equal  rights  on  the  floor.  As  the  persecuted  State 
of  Tennessee  finally  had  permission  to  cast  her  fif 
teen  votes  in  the  convention,  this  was  regarded  as 
a  marked  indication  of  the  preference  of  the  con 
vention  for  Andrew  Johnson  for  vice-president. 
New  England,  preferring  Hamlin,  had  naturally 
voted  against  the  admission  of  the  Tennessee  dele 
gation.  Later  on  it  was  seen  that  Missouri  well- 
nigh  prevented  the  final  action  of  the  convention 
from  being  unanimous.  Of  the  other  Southern 
States  then  in  rebellion,  South  Carolina,  Florida, 
Virginia,  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas  sent  delegates 
to  the  convention ;  but  as  South  Carolina,  Florida, 
and  Virginia  had  not  taken  any  steps  whatever  to 
ward  reviving  a  State  government,  their  delegates 
were  not  admitted ;  those  of  Louisiana  and  Arkan 
sas,  however,  by  a  vote  substantially  identical  with 
that  which  opened  the  door  for  Tennessee,  ob 
tained  recognition  in  the  convention. 

The  permanent  chairman  of  the  convention  was 
Ex-Governor  Dennison  of  Ohio.  He  made  a  short 
speech,  but  he  was  not  a  vigorous  or  cool-headed 
presiding  officer.  Whenever  a  wave  of  excitement 
produced  confusion  in  the  convention,  the  chairman 
apparently  lost  his  head,  and  showed  inability  to 
control  the  storm ;  and  many  a  storm  there  was  be 
fore  the  convention  finished  its  business.  But  the 
most  terrific  contests  were  made  when  sundry  well- 
meaning  persons  were  almost  ready  to  fly  at  one 
another's  throats  in  their  anxiety  to  have  the  honor 
of  nominating  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the  presidency. 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  155 

As  one  sat  on  the  platform,  looking  over  the  tem 
pest-tossed  assemblage,  watching  with  amusement 
the  frantic  efforts  of  a  score  of  men  to  climb  over 
one  another's  heads,  as  it  were,  and  snatch  for  them 
selves  this  inestimable  privilege,  one  could  not  help 
thinking  of  the  frequently  repeated  assertion  of  cer 
tain  small  politicians  that  Lincoln  could  not  possi 
bly  be  nominated  by  that  convention.  The  most 
conspicuous  claimants  for  the  honor  of  naming  Lin 
coln  were  Simon  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  Gov 
ernor  Stone  of  Iowa,  B.  C.  Cook  of  Illinois,  and 
Thompson  Campbell  of  California.  The  last-named 
gentleman,  who  had  known  Lincoln  intimately  dur 
ing  his  young  manhood  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  was 
especially  desirous  that  he  might  be  permitted  to 
speak  for  Illinois,  California,  and  his  own  native 
State  —  Kentucky.  This  had  been  virtually  agreed 
upon,  but  before  he  could  secure  the  floor,  Simon 
Cameron  got  in  ahead  of  him,  and  sent  up  to  the 
clerk's  desk  a  written  resolution  which  he  demanded 
should  be  read.  When  the  clerk  opened  the  paper 
and  read  its  contents,  it  was  found  that  the  resolu 
tion  demanded  the  renomination  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln  of  Illinois  and  Hannibal  Hamlin  of  Maine.  No 
sooner  had  the  clerk  finished  reading  the  resolution 
than  a  frightful  clamor  shook  the  hall.  Almost 
every  delegate  was  on  his  feet  objecting  or  hurrah 
ing,  or  in  other  ways  making  his  emotions  and  his 
wishes  known  in  stentorian  tones.  For  a  few  min 
utes  pandemonium  reigned,  and  in  the  midst  of  it 
Cameron  stood  with  his  arms  folded,  grimly  smiling, 
regarding  with  composure  the  storm  that  he  had 
raised.  After  the  turmoil  had  spent  itself,  Henry 


156  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

J.  Raymond,  of  New  York,  in  an  incisive,  clear-cut 
speech,  advocated  making  nominations  by  a  call  of 
States.  He  urged  that  as  entire  unanimity  in  the 
choice  of  the  presidential  candidate  was  expected, 
the  moral  effect  would  be  better  if  no  noisy  accla 
mation  were  made,  which  would  give  slanderers  an 
opportunity  to  say  that  the  nomination  was  rushed 
through  by  the  overwhelming  of  all  opposition,  how 
ever  small.  Before  the  applause  which  followed  the 
adoption  of  Raymond's  resolution  had  entirely  sub 
sided,  B.  C.  Cook  of  Illinois  mounted  a  settee  and 
cried :  "  Illinois  once  more  presents  to  the  nation  the 
name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  —  God  bless  him ! "  An 
other  roar  of  applause,  swept  through  the  theater, 
and  Stone  of  Iowa  succeeded  in  gaining  his  point  by 
seconding  Cook's  nomination ;  but  Thompson  Camp 
bell  of  California,  who  had  been  unfairly  deprived 
of  his  coveted  privilege  of  making  the  nomination, 
leaped  upon  a  settee  and  addressed  the  chair.  He 
was  constantly  interrupted  with  catcalls  and  cries  of 
"No  speeches,"  "  Get  down,"  "Dry  up,"  and  "Call 
the  roll,"  etc.  In  the  midst  of  the  confusion,  how 
ever,  Campbell,  who  was  a  tall,  spare  man  with  a 
saturnine  visage  and  tremendous  lung  power,  kept 
on  speaking  in  dumb  show,  wildly  gesticulating,  not 
a  word  of  his  speech  being  audible.  Campbell  was 
evidently  beside  himself  with  rage  and  disappoint 
ment  ;  but  those  nearest  him  finally  succeeded  in 
coaxing  him  off  his  perch,  and  he  sat  down  sullen 
with  anger. 

That  was  a  business  convention,  and  when  the 
roll-call  began,  Maine  simply  announced  its  sixteen 
votes  for  Abraham  Lincoln.  New  Hampshire,  com- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  157 

ing  next,  attempted  to  ring  in  a  little  speech  with 
its  vote,  but  was  summarily  choked  off  with  cries 
of  "  No  speeches,"  and  the  call  proceeded  in.  an  or 
derly  manner,  no  delegation  venturing  to  make  any 
other  announcement  than  that  of  its  vote.  The  con 
vention  struck  a  snag  when  Missouri  was  reached, 
and  the  chairman  of  the  united  delegations  made  a 
brief  speech  in  which  he  said  that  the  radical  dele 
gation  was  under  positive  instructions  to  cast  its 
twenty-two  votes  for  U.  S.  Grant ;  that  he  and  his 
associates  would  support  any  nominee  of  the  con 
vention,  but  they  must  obey  orders  from  home. 
This  caused  a  sensation,  and  growls  of  disapproval 
arose  from  all  parts  of  the  convention ;  for  it  was 
evident  that  this  unfortunate  complication  might 
prevent  a  unanimous  vote  for  Lincoln.  The  Mis 
souri  radical  delegates,  it  should  be  understood,  had 
been  chosen  many  weeks  before  the  nomination  of 
Lincoln  became  inevitable.  There  never  was  any 
recall  of  the  instructions  given  at  a  time  when  it 
was  apparently  among  the  possibilities  that  another 
than  Lincoln  might  be  the  nominee  of  the  National 
Convention.  When  the  clerk  of  the  convention  an 
nounced  the  result  of  the  roll-call,  it  was  found  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  had  507  votes  and  U.  S.  Grant  22 
votes.  Thereupon  Mr.  Hume,  chairman  of  the  Mis 
souri  delegation,  immediately  moved  that  the  nom 
ination  be  declared  unanimous.  This  was  done. 
Straightway  the  long-pent-up  enthusiasm  burst 
forth  in  a  scene  of  the  wildest  confusion.  Men  hur 
rahed,  embraced  one  another,  threw  up  their  hats, 
danced  in  the  aisles  or  on  the  platform,  jumped  on 
the  benches,  waved  flags,  yelled,  and  committed 


158  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

every  possible  extravagance  to  demonstrate  the  exu 
berance  of  their  joy.  One  of  the  most  comical  sights 
which  I  beheld  was  that  of  Horace  Maynard  and 
Henry  J.  Raymond  alternately  hugging  each  other 
and  shaking  hands,  apparently  unable  to  utter  a 
word,  so  full  of  emotion  were  they.  And  when  the 
big  brass  band  burst  out  with  "  Hail,  Columbia  ! " 
the  racket  was  so  intolerable  that  I  involuntarily 
looked  up  to  see  if  the  roof  of  the  theater  were  not 
lifted  by  the  volume  of  sound.  When  quiet  was  re 
stored,  and  other  business  was  about  to  be  resumed, 
the  band  again  struck  up  "  Yankee  Doodle  "  in  its 
liveliest  manner,  and  another  torrent  of  enthusiasm 
broke  forth ;  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  the 
excited  and  jubilant  assemblage  could  be  quieted 
down  and  order  restored.  In  those  days  the  mere 
sight  of  the  American  flag,  or  the  sound  of  a  na 
tional  melody,  would  stir  an  assembly  to  fever-heat. 
The  chairman  caused  to  be  read  a  despatch  ad 
dressed  to  him  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  giving  a 
favorable  account  of  the  military  situation,  and 
news  of  Hunter's  victory  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley, 
all  of  which  was  received  with  applause.  There 
upon  the  Rev.  T.  H.  Pearne,  of  Oregon,  read  a  des 
patch  from  his  State  announcing  the  result  of  the 
general  election  there  on  the  previous  day,  which  was 
a  Union  victory.  The  cheering  again  burst  forth, 
and  for  a  time  it  looked  as  though  no  other  business 
but  making  announcements  and  "bursting  in  to  ap 
plause  "  would  be  done  that  day.  But  the  con 
vention  finally  got  down  to  work,  and  when  the 
Indiana  delegates  presented  the  name  of  Andrew 
Johnson  for  vice-president,  Stone,  of  Iowa,  seconded 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  159 

the  nomination,  and  Horace  Maynard  made  a  little 
speech  in  favor  of  the  same.  Simon  Cameron  nom 
inated  Hamlin  without  any  speech  ;  Kentucky  pre 
sented  General  Rousseau ;  and  Lyrnan  Tremaine, 
in  behalf  of  a  portion  of  the  New  York  delegation, 
presented  the  name  of  Daniel  S.  Dickinson.  The 
popular  demand  for  a  War  Democrat  had  induced 
some  of  the  New  Yorkers  to  present  Dickinson's 
name ;  but  it  was  well  known  that  most  of  the  New 
York  delegates  favored  Hamlin,  and  their  argument 
was  that  if  Seward  was  to  remain  in  the  cabinet  it 
could  hardly  be  expected  that  a  New  Yorker  would 
be  made  vice-president.  There  was  much  button 
holing  and  wire-pulling  while  the  vote  was  being 
taken,  and  before  it  was  officially  announced  :  but 
of  the  520  votes  cast  Andrew  Johnson  had  202,  Han 
nibal  Hamlin  150,  Daniel  S.  Dickinson  109,  Benja 
min  F.  Butler  28,  and  31  votes  were  scattering ;  so 
there  was  no  choice.  As  Johnson  was  considerably 
in  the  lead  of  all  other  candidates,  his  nomination 
was  made  certain  by  Kentucky,  which,  having  paid 
its  compliments  to  General  Rousseau,  threw  its 
twenty-two  votes  for  Andrew  Johnson,  with  much 
empressement  on  the  part  of  the  spokesman  of  the 
delegation.  Oregon,  having  given  its  five  votes  to 
Schuyler  Coif  ax,  followed  the  lead  of  Kentucky. 
Then  Pennsylvania,  amid  the  greatest  excitement 
of  that  episode  of  the  convention,  threw  a  solid  vote 
of  fifty-two  for  the  Tennesseean,  and  Andrew  John 
son  was  declared  the  nominee  of  the  convention, 
applause,  cheering,  and  much  enthusiasm  greeting 
the  final  announcement. 

The  next  evening,  when  I  called  on  the  President 


160  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

at  home,  I  was  astonished  by  his  jokingly  rallying 
me  on  my  failure  to  send  him  word  of  his  nomina 
tion.  It  appeared  that  nobody  had  apparently 
thought  it  worth  while  to  telegraph  him  the  result 
of  the  balloting  for  the  presidential  nominee  of  the 
convention.  Probably  each  one  of  the  many  men 
who  would  have  been  glad  to  be  the  sender  of  plea 
sant  tidings  to  the  President  had  thought  that  some 
other  man  would  surely  anticipate  him  by  a  tele 
gram  of  congratulation.  In  the  confusion  that 
reigned  in  the  convention  nobody  went  to  the  wires 
that  were  led  into  the  building  but  the  alert  news 
paper  men,  who  thought  only  of  their  own  business. 

It  turned  out  that  the  President,  having  business 
at  the  War  Department,  met  Major  Eckert,  super 
intendent  of  the  military  bureau  of  telegraphs,  who 
congratulated  him  on  his  nomination.  "What! 
Am  I  renominated ! "  asked  the  surprised  chief. 
When  assured  that  this  had  been  done,  Mr.  Lincoln 
expressed  his  gratification,  and  asked  Major  Eckert 
if  he  would  kindly  send  word  over  to  the  White 
House  when  the  name  of  the  candidate  for  vice- 
president  should  have  been  agreed  upon.  Lincoln, 
later  on,  was  informed  by  Major  Eckert  that  John 
son  had  been  nominated,  and  (as  the  President 
himself  subsequently  told  me)  made  an  exclamation 
that  emphatically  indicated  his  disappointment 
thereat.  Major  Eckert  afterward  confirmed  this 
statement  with  a  hearty  laugh. 

While  we  were  talking  over  some  of  the  curious 
details  of  the  convention  (Lincoln  being  especially 
sorry  for  his  friend  Thompson  Campbell's  disap 
pointment),  a  band  came  to  the  White  House,  and 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  161 

a  messenger  brought  up  the  information  that  the 
members  of  the  Ohio  delegation  to  the  Baltimore 
Convention  desired  to  pay  their  respects  to  the 
President,  whereupon  he  went  down  to  the  door, 
hat  in  hand,  and  when  the  cheering  and  music  had 
subsided,  spoke  as  follows : 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  this 
compliment.  I  have  just  been  saying,  and  as  I  have  just 
said  it,  I  will  repeat  it :  The  hardest  of  all  speeches  which 
I  have  to  make  is  an  answer  to  a  serenade.  I  never  know 
what  to  say  on  such  occasions.  I  suppose  that  you  Lave 
done  me  this  kindness  in  connection  with  the  action  of 
the  Baltimore  Convention  which  has  recently  taken  place, 
with  which,  of  course,  I  am  very  well  satisfied.  [Laugh 
ter  and  applause.]  What  we  want  still  more  than  Balti 
more  Conventions  or  presidential  elections  is  success  un 
der  General  Grant.  [Cries  of  "  Good !  "  and  applause.] 
I  propose  that  you  constantly  bear  in  mind  that  the  sup 
port  you  owe  to  the  brave  officers  and  soldiers  in  the 
field  is  of  the  very  first  importance,  and  we  should  bend 
all  our  energies  to  that  point.  Now,  without  detaining 
you  any  longer,  I  propose  that  you  help  me  to  close  up 
what  I  am  now  saying  with  three  rousing  cheers  for  Gen 
eral  Grant  and  the  officers  and  soldiers  under  his  com 
mand. 

The  President's  request  was  acceded  to,  and  three 
rousing  cheers  were  given,  Lincoln  himself  leading 
off,  and  waving  his  hat  as  enthusiastically  as  any 
body  else. 

During  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  the  com 
mittee  appointed  by  the  convention  to  wait  upon 
the  President  and  notify  him  of  his  nomination  was 
received  in  the  East  Room  of  the  White  House,  and 


162  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

Ex-Governor  Dennison  of  Ohio,  president  of  the 
convention,  made  a  very  good  little  speech,  and 
presented  Lincoln  with  an  engrossed  copy  of  the 
resolutions  adopted  by  the  convention.  The  Presi 
dent  appeared  to  be  deeply  affected  by  the  address, 
and  with  considerable  emotion  and  solemnity  ac 
cepted  the  nomination  in  a  short  speech,  in  which 
he  referred  to  pending  propositions  of  amnesty, 
and  to  such  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  as 
became  a  fitting  and  natural  conclusion  to  the  final 
success  of  the  Union  cause.  His  last  words,  refer 
ring  to  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution  abolish 
ing  slavery,  were :  "  Now,  the  unconditional  Union 
men,  North  and  South,  perceive  its  importance  and 
embrace  it.  In  the  joint  names  of  Liberty  and 
Union,  let  us  labor  to  give  it  legal  form  and  prac 
tical  effect." 

CONTENTION  OVEK  RECONSTRUCTION  PLANS 

YET,  within  a  month  from  that  happy  and  jubi 
lant  time,  everything  was  once  more  in  confusion 
in  Washington,  and  the  political  skies  were  again 
darkened  by  clouds  returning  after  the  rain.  Be 
tween  the  notable  events  of  the  nomination  of  Lin 
coln  at  Baltimore  and  of  McClellan  at  Chicago,  there 
intervened  the  publication  of  what  is  known  in  his 
tory  as  the  Wade-Davis  manifesto.  This  incident 
in  the  long  struggle  over  Southern  reconstruction 
— a  struggle  that  extended  into  the  administra 
tion  of  Andrew  Johnson — was  almost  inevitable 
when  it  is  considered  that  the  radicals  in  Congress 
were  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the  outlines  of  the 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME  1G3 

reconstruction  policy  of  President  Lincoln,  as  these 
appeared  in  bis  message  of  the  previous  year  (1863). 
The  pivotal  point  in  the  discussion  then  going  on 
was,  Are  the  States  lately  in  rebellion  in  the  Union 
or  out  of  the  Union  1  The  Republican  party  was 
divided  on  this  question,  a  portion  contending  that 
the  so-called  acts  of  secession  were  inoperative  in 
every  respect ;  while  others,  in  theory  and  practice, 
appeared  to  assume  that  those  States  had  been  out 
side  of  the  Union,  and  had  been  conquered  and 
brought  back.  On  such  refinements  of  reasoning 
a  dangerous  schism  was  opened  in  the  party  that 
was  expected  to  support  Lincoln  in  that  canvass. 

Senator  Sumner  was  one  of  those  who  received 
the  President's  message  of  1863  with  undisguised 
impatience,  and  who  subsequently  found  fault  with 
his  reconstruction  speech  made  in  answer  to  a  ser 
enade  at  the  end  of  the  war.  Although  it  has  been 
said  that  Mr.  Sumner  was  not  displeased  with  that 
message,  it  is  certain  that  he  expressed  himself  to 
his  friends  with  some  warmth,  descanting  on  the 
President's  omission  to  say  whether  the  rebel  States 
were  in  or  out  of  the  Union.  While  the  message 
was  being  read,  Sumner  listened  attentively  until 
he  saw  its  drift,  and  then  he  apparently  withdrew 
his  attention  from  the  reading,  and  in  a  boyish  and 
petulant  manner  slammed  his  books  and  docu 
ments  about  his  desk  and  upon  the  floor,  and  gen 
erally  exhibited  his  ill-temper  to  an  astonished  and 
admiring  gallery.  Later  on  in  that  session  a  bill 
was  introduced  in  the  House  by  Henry  Winter  Da 
vis  in  which  were  embodied  the  notions  of  the  rad 
ical  Republicans.  In  brief,  Mr.  Lincoln's  policy 


164  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

was  to  build  up  a  civil  government  in  each  State 
as  soon  as  military  resistance  should  disappear; 
and,  under  the  authority  of  military  governors  to 
be  appointed  by  him,  to  develop  the  nucleus  of  an 
orderly  government,  whose  powers  and  authority 
should  be  submitted  to  Congress  for  recognition. 
The  scheme  of  Henry  Winter  Davis  and  his  friends 
was  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  a  provisional 
governor  (a  civil  officer)  in  each  of  the  States  lately 
in  rebellion,  under  whose  authority  a  majority  of 
the  white  male  citizens  of  the  State  should  elect 
delegates  to  a  convention  to  reestablish  a  State  gov 
ernment.  The  new  constitution  which  should  be 
adopted  by  such  a  convention  was  to  provide  three 
things  —  exclusion  of  military  and  civil  officers  of 
the  Confederacy,  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  the 
total  repudiation  of  all  rebel  debts. 

This  bill  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the  well- 
known  plans  and  opinions  of  Lincoln,  and  could 
not  be  made  to  square  with  his  plan  of  reconstruc 
tion,  the  details  of  which  were  already  well  under 
stood.  Nevertheless,  the  measure  did  not  awaken 
much  opposition  among  the  Unionist  members  of 
Congress,  and  was  opposed  by  the  Democrats  only 
on  general  principles.  Singularly  enough,  although 
Henry  Winter  Davis  had  been  steadily  hostile  to 
every  policy  favored  by  Lincoln,  nobody  seemed  to 
think  that  this  extraordinary  scheme  would  be  dis 
approved  by  the  President,  or  that  the  friends  of 
the  administration  ought  to  be  shy  of  any  proposi 
tion  which  came  from  a  man  who  was  constantly 
bristling  with  hostility  to  Lincoln's  political  ideas. 
Davis  was  a  singularly  alert  and  singularly  violent 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  1G5 

politician.  In  his  speeches  advocating  the  passage 
of  his  bill  he  imputed  low  motives  to  the  President, 
and  treated  his  scheme  of  reconstruction,  outlined 
in  the  amnesty  proclamation  and  the  message  of 
December,  1863,  with  frank  contempt.  This  was  in 
exact  accord  with  the  rash  and  egotistical  course 
which  Davis  pursued  in  regard  to  any  man  or  any 
measure  that  did  not  receive  his  full  approbation. 
For  example,  Assistant-Secretary  Fox  of  the  Navy 
Department  had  in  some  way  incurred  Davis's  en 
mity,  and  in  one  of  his  diatribes  against  the  alleged 
inefficiency  of  the  navy,  Davis  disposed  of  the  fight 
between  the  Monitor  and  the  Merrimac  as  follows : 
"  The  Monitor  accidentally  came  into  Hampton 
Roads  as  the  Merrimac  was  trying  to  destroy,  as  it 
had  already  destroyed,  some  of  our  vessels.  The 
collision  took  place;  neither  fleet  was  destroyed; 
neither  vessel  was  sunk ;  neither  party  was  whipped, 
as  the  boys  say ;  and  the  country  ran  wild  over  two 
guns  in  a  cheese-box  having  done  anything."  Ex 
travagances  like  this  injured  the  reputation  of 
Davis  for  statesmanship,  and  should  have  put  the 
friends  of  Lincoln  on  their  guard  when  Davis  for 
mulated  his  policy  for  the  reconstruction  of  the 
Southern  States.  Lincoln  was  unwilling  to  lay 
down  a  hard-and-fast  rule  to  be  applied  to  each 
State  as  it  should  be  brought  once  more  into  Fed 
eral  relations  with  the  other  States  of  the  Union. 
Davis's  plan  contemplated  restricting  the  President 
to  one  iron-bound  scheme  applicable  to  each  and  all 
of  the  States.  His  bill,  after  much  speech-making 
on  both  sides  of  the  House,  went  over  to  the  Sen 
ate  in  the  summer  of  1864.  It  was  almost  imme- 
n* 


166  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

diately  passed,  but  with  some  amendments;  was 
sent  back  to  the  House ;  and  was  ready  for  the  sig 
nature  of  the  President  just  before  Congress  ad 
journed  on  July  4  of  that  year. 

The  last  days  of  a  congressional  session  are  char 
acterized  by  confusion  which  would  turn  the  head 
of  any  one  unused  to  this  fantastic  turmoil ;  and 
the  end  of  that  particular  session  was  unusually 
noisy  and  chaotic.  Many  bills  of  importance  were 
pitchforked  into  shape  at  the  last  moment,  and  were 
tossed  between  the  Senate  and  the  House  even  to 
the  latest  hour  of  the  session.  Both  branches  of 
Congress  had  agreed  to  adjourn  at  12  o'clock  on 
July  4;  but  the  Senate,  which  was  inextricably 
mixed  up  with  important  and  unfinished  business, 
importuned  the  House  to  extend  the  session  ten 
minutes.  This  was  done  three  times,  so  that  the 
final  hour  of  adjournment  did  not  arrive  until  half- 
past  twelve  o'clock  on  that  day.  Great  interest 
was  felt  in  an  important  bill  to  amend  the  Pacific 
Railroad  Act.  This  bill  virtually  increased  the 
compensation  of  the  railroad  builders,  and  in  other 
ways  enhanced  their  interests.  It  was  finally 
dragged  through,  but  two  other  measures  of  more 
importance  failed.  One  of  these  was  "Washburne's 
Whisky  Tax  Bill,  and  another  was  a  bill  to  estab 
lish  a  commission  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
the  public  financial  resources,  and  the  best  means 
of  levying  judicious  taxation  on  the  same.  It  was 
noticeable,  however,  that  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  many  bills  of  national  import  failed  to  get 
through,  there  was  no  failure  of  a  bill  which  gave 
every  member  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  a  com- 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  167 

plete  set  of  the  "  Congressional  Globe "  from  the 
beginning  of  its  publication  until  the  close  of  that 
Congress. 

Ten  minutes  before  the  hour  of  adjournment  had 
arrived,  pages  darted  to  and  fro  with  messages  and 
bills,  and  engrossing  clerks  rushed  madly  about 
with  sheets  of  parchment  for  the  signatures  of 
Speaker  and  clerk.  Cabinet  ministers  were  numer 
ous  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  and  lobbyists  in  the 
general  disorder  slipped  in  through  the  doors  and 
buttonholed  members,  while  the  mill  of  legislation 
slowly  ground  out  its  last  grist.  The  President 
was  signing  bills  in  the  room  set  apart  for  his  use 
in  the  Senate  wing  of  the  Capitol,  being  attended 
from  time  to  time  during  the  morning  by  members 
of  his  cabinet.  As  the  hands  of  the  clock  drew 
near  the  fateful  hour  of  adjournment,  it  was  sud 
denly  whispered  about  the  House  that  the  Presi 
dent  had  so  far  failed  to  sign  the  Wade-Davis  Re 
construction  Bill.  Men  held  their  breath  at  this 
unexpected  turn  of  affairs,  and  asked,  "Will  he 
send  in  a  veto  message,  or  will  he  pocket  it  ?  "  It 
was,  of  course,  too  late  to  think  of  a  veto  message, 
and  the  general  opinion  of  those  who  believed  that 
the  bill  would  not  receive  his  sanction  was  that  he 
would  give  it  a  pocket  veto.  Now  for  the  first  time 
men  who  had  not  seriously  opposed  the  passage  of 
the  reconstruction  bill  began  to  wish  that  it  had 
never  gone  to  the  President;  but  all  was  uncer 
tainty,  and  although  it  was  the  supreme  moment, 
the  reading  clerk  wras  droning  forth  in  occasional 
fragments  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which 
somebody  had  demanded  should  be  read.  Most  of 


168  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

the  members  and  senators  appeared  to  forget  their 
petty  jobs  and  schemes  in  the  all-absorbing  ques 
tion,  What  will  the  President  do  with  the  recon 
struction  bill  ?  Finally  messages  from  the  Senate 
and  from  the  President  informed  the  House  that 
no  further  communications  were  to  be  expected 
from  them,  and  Speaker  Colfax,  in  a  few  pleasant 
words,  dismissed  the  members  to  their  homes,  and 
declared  the  session  ended.  In  the  disorder  which 
followed,  Davis  standing  at  his  desk,  pale  with 
wrath,  his  bushy  hair  tousled,  and  wildly  brandish 
ing  his  arms,  denounced  the  President  in  good  set 
terms.  It  was  known  at  last  that  the  bill  had  failed 
to  receive  the  President's  signature.  Congress  had 
adjourned,  leaving  the  great  scheme  of  Wade, 
Davis,  and  their  colaborers  a  mass  of  ruins. 

This  event,  in  the  minds  of  those  who  were  in  at 
the  death  of  that  session,  looms  up  more  conspicu 
ously  in  the  history  of  that  July  4,  1864,  than  any 
other  that  had  lately  occurred  in  Washington.  I 
certainly  was  astonished  to  hear  the  bitter  denun 
ciations  heaped  upon  the  head  of  President  Lincoln 
by  some  of  the  radical  senators  and  representa 
tives.  Pomeroy,  of  Kansas,  was  of  course  exceed 
ingly  wrathful  and  sarcastic ;  and  he  went  around 
saying,  "I  told  you  so."  The  Missourians  were 
unexpectedly  quiet,  and  Senator  Gratz  Brown,  who 
had  all  along  taken  a  somewhat  conservative  view 
of  the  matter,  expressed  himself  as  being  well  sat 
isfied  with  the  ultimate  fate  of  the  bill.  Among 
those  whom  I  heard  express  great  disappointment 
and  sharp  disapproval  of  the  President's  "  pocket 
veto  "  was  Representative  Garfield.  But  these  mal- 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  169 

contents  soon  poured  out  of  the  doors  of  the  Capi 
tol  on  all  sides,  leaving  the  gilded  and  decorated 
halls  to  loneliness  and  dusky  splendor.  They  be 
took  their  complaints,  their  congratulations,  their 
hopes  and  fears,  to  their  own  homes,  and  the  first 
session  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  ended  in  a 
curious  condition  of  unrest  and  dissatisfaction. 

Political  matters  were  lost  sight  of  when,  very 
soon  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  the  capital 
was  threatened  by  Early  on  his  famous  raid ;  but 
the  excitement  of  that  brief  beleaguering  having 
passed  away,  the  publication  of  a  letter  signed  by 
Senator  Wade  and  Representative  Davis  criticiz 
ing  the  President  with  severity,  again  created  a 
lively  condition  of  things  in  national  politics.  The 
letter  appeared  on  August  5.  It  is  needless  to  re 
call  the  points  of  that  now  historic  document.  Its 
appearance  created  something  like  a  panic  in  the 
ranks  of  the  President's  supporters.  It  was  the 
work  of  two  members  of  his  own  party.  It  was  at 
first  said  that  it  was  written  by  James  A.  Garfield, 
and  on  the  strength  of  that  report  his  renomina- 
tion  for  Congress  was  subsequently  in  danger. 
Garfield,  however,  although  he  frankly  acknow 
ledged  that  he  was  in  sympathy  with  the  signers 
of  the  manifesto,  flatly  declared  that  he  had  no 
thing  to  do  with  its  production.  It  was  generally 
understood  that  Henry  Winter  Davis  was  the  author 
of  the  document,  and  it  certainly  bore  evidence  of 
his  well-known  skill  in  the  art  of  putting  things. 
Upon  President  Lincoln  this  letter,  which  was  ad 
dressed  to  "the  supporters  of  the  Government," 
had  a  most  depressing  effect.  Four  days  after  Con- 


170  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

gress  adjourned  he  had  issued  a  proclamation,  and 
had  embodied  in  that  document  a  copy  of  the  Wade- 
Davis  bill  as  it  passed  Congress,  and  had  given 
his  reasons  for  withholding  from  it  his  approval. 
This  proclamation  had  been  generally  received  with 
every  sign  of  popular  satisfaction,  and  the  Wade- 
Davis  manifesto,  coming  as  it  did  afterward  like  a 
thunderbolt  out  of  a  clear  sky,  threw  politicians  of 
every  stamp  into  the  wildest  confusion.  The  ad 
dress  imputed  to  the  President  the  meanest  of  mo 
tives,  and  insinuated  very  broadly  that  his  policy 
of  reconstruction  was  the  natural  outcome  of  his 
intense  desire  to  be  reflected.  It  was  this  unjust 
suggestion  that  cut  Lincoln  to  the  heart.  A  day 
or  two  after  the  Wade-Davis  manifesto  appeared, 
Lincoln,  in  conversation  with  me,  said:  "To  be 
wounded  in  the  house  of  one's  friends  is  perhaps 
the  most  grievous  affliction  that  can  befall  a  man. 
I  have  tried  my  best  to  meet  the  wishes  of  this  man 
[Davis],  and  to  do  my  whole  duty  by  the  country." 
Later  on  in  the  same  conversation,  while  lamenting 
with  sincere  grief  the  implacable  hostility  which 
Henry  Winter  Davis  had  manifested,  he  said  that 
Davis's  pride  of  opinion  led  him  to  say  and  do 
things  of  which  he  (Lincoln)  was  certain  in  his  own 
private  judgment  his  (Davis's)  conscience  could  not 
approve.  When  I  said  that  it  sometimes  seemed 
as  though  Davis  was  mad,  Lincoln  replied,  "  I  have 
heard  that  there  was  insanity  in  his  family;  per 
haps  we  might  allow  the  plea  in  this  case."  It  was 
this  attack  upon  him,  apparently  so  needless  and 
so  unprofitable,  and  so  well  calculated  to  disturb  the 
harmony  of  the  Union  party,  that  grieved  the  Presi- 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  171 

dent  more  than  the  framing  and  the  passage  of  the 
bill;  but  commenting  in  his  own  shrewd  way  on 
that  bill,  Lincoln  said  that  he  had  somewhere  read 
of  a  robber  tyrant  who  had  built  an  iron  bedstead 
on  which  he  compelled  his  victims  to  lie.  If  the 
captive  was  too  short  to  fill  the  bedstead,  he  was 
stretched  by  main  force  until  he  was  long  enough ; 
and  if  he  was  too  long,  he  was  chopped  off  to  fit 
the  bedstead.  This,  Lincoln  thought,  was  the  sort 
of  reconstruction  which  the  Wade-Davis  plan  con 
templated.  If  any  State  coming  back  into  Federal 
relations  did  not  fit  the  Wade-Davis  bedstead,  so 
much  the  worse  for  the  State.  Lincoln's  habitual 
diffidence  in  quoting  erudite  or  classic  sayings  usu 
ally  induced  him  to  refer  to  such  stories  in  this 
vague  way ;  and  although  he  probably  knew  very 
well  who  Procrustes  was,  he  slurred  over  the  il 
lustration  as  something  of  which  he  had  remotely 
heard. 

As  a  matter  of  record,  I  may  as  well  say  here 
that  at  the  next  and  last  session  of  that  Congress — 
the  Thirty-ninth — Davis  reintroduced  his  pet  meas 
ure;  and  after  it  had  been  amended  considerably, 
it  was  finally  tabled  February  21,  1865,  in  spite 
of  the  fiery  speech  which  its  distinguished  author 
made  in  its  favor.  Although  the  bill  passed  both 
branches  of  Congress  without  serious  opposition  in 
the  first  instance,  public  opinion  had  so  far  changed 
under  Lincoln's  guiding  hand,  eight  months  later, 
that  it  was  finally  killed  by  a  vote  of  91  to  64, 
which  laid  it  on  the  table. 


172  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME 

THE   DARK  DAYS   OF   1864 

IN  the  memory  of  men  who  lived  in  Washington 
duriDg  the  months  of  July  and  August,  1864,  those 
days  will  appear  to  be  the  darkest  of  the  many 
dark  days  through  which  passed  the  friends  and 
lovers  of  the  Federal  Union.  The  earlier  years  of 
the  war,  it  is  true,  had  been  full  of  grief,  despon 
dency,  and  even  agony;  but  the  darkness  that 
settled  upon  us  in  the  summer  of  1864  was  the 
more  difficult  to  be  endured  because  of  its  unex 
pectedness.  The  hopes  so  buoyantly  entertained 
by  our  people  when  Grant  opened  his  campaign  in 
Virginia  had  been  dashed.  No  joyful  tidings  came 
from  the  army  now ;  a  deadly  calm  prevailed  where 
had  so  lately  resounded  the  shouts  of  victory.  In 
every  department  of  the  Government  there  was  a 
manifest  feeling  of  discouragement.  In  the  field  of 
national  politics  confusion  reigned. 

When  Congress  adjourned  on  July  4,  writh  the 
Wade-Davis  Reconstruction  Bill  left  unsigned,  the 
turmoil  inside  of  the  Union  Republican  party  was 
something  terrific;  arid  when,  a  month  later,  the 
Wade-Davis  manifesto  appeared,  the  consternation 
of  the  Republican  leaders  was  very  great.  Early's 
invasion  of  Maryland  and  dash  upon  WashiDgton, 
which  caused  a  good  deal  of  panic  in  the  coun 
try  generally,  occurred  about  the  middle  of  July. 
Right  on  the  heels  of  this  event  came  the  Presi 
dent's  call  for  five  hundred  thousand  men,  which 
was  issued  July  18,  and  then  the  placing  of  another 
great  loan,  which  dropped  upon  the  people  about 
the  same  time.  Nor  was  the  military  situation  any 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  173 

more  cheerful.  The  awful  fighting  in  the  Wilder 
ness  and  at  Cold  Harbor  had  fairly  startled  the 
country  by  the  enormous  loss  of  life  sustained  by 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  apparently  without  any 
corresponding  gain  of  position.  The  failure  of  the 
Petersburg  mine,  July  30,  was  another  addition  to 
the  burden  carried  in  the  hearts  of  patriotic  Ameri 
cans.  Chase's  resignation  of  the  secretaryship  of 
the  Treasury,  and  the  muddle  which  Horace 
Greeley  had  succeeded  in  creating  by  his  futile 
mission  to  the  rebel  emissaries  at  Niagara  Falls, 
had  so  worried  the  people  that  nobody  appeared 
to  know  what  was  in  the  air  —  a  compromise  in 
the  interest  of  peace,  or  a  more  vigorous  prosecu 
tion  of  the  war. 

The  raid  of  Early,  which  occurred  in  July,  1864, 
gave  us  our  only  serious  scare  in  the  national  capital, 
although  many  alarms  were  sounded  during  the  war 
and  after  the  first  terrors  of  the  civil  insurrec 
tion  had  died  away.  That  incursion  of  the  dash 
ing  rebel  hosts  was  evidently  twofold  in  its  purpose, 
forage  and  plunder  in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania 
being  part  of  the  scheme,  while  the  more  important 
and  highly  desired  purpose  was  to  seize  upon  Wash 
ington,  then  left  comparatively  defenseless  so  far 
as  troops  were  concerned.  The  news  of  the  ap 
proach  of  Early  was  brought  to  the  city  (whatever 
may  have  been  the  information  lodged  in  the  War 
Department)  by  the  panic-stricken  people  from 
Rockville,  Silver  Spring,  Tennallytown,  and  other 
Maryland  villages.  These  people  came  flocking 
into  Washington  by  the  Seventh  street  road,  flying 
in  wild  disorder,  and  bringing  their  household 


174  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

goods  with  them.  In  a  general  way  we  understood 
that  the  city  was  cut  off  at  the  north  and  east,  and 
that  the  famine  of  market-stuff,  New  York  news 
papers,  and  other  necessaries  of  life,  was  due  to  the 
cutting  of  railway  lines  leading  northward.  For 
two  or  three  days  we  had  no  mail,  no  telegraphic 
messages,  and  no  railway  travel.  Our  only  com 
munication  with  the  outer  world  was  by  steamer 
from  Georgetown,  D.  C.,  to  New  York.  Washing 
ton  was  in  a  ferment ;  men  were  marching  to  and 
fro;  able-bodied  citizens  were  swept  up  and  put 
into  the  District  militia;  and  squads  of  depart 
ment  clerks  were  set  to  drilling  in  the  parks.  It 
was  an  odd  sight  to  see  men  who  had  been  thus 
impressed  into  the  public  service,  dressed  in  linen 
coats  or  in  partial  uniform,  being  put  through  the 
manual  of  arms  by  an  impromptu  captain,  who  in 
turn  was  coached  by  his  orderly  sergeant  (a  mes 
senger  employed  in  the  War  Department).  These 
sons  of  Mars  were  all  under  command  of  Brigadier- 
general  Bacon,  a  worthy  grocer  of  Washington, 
who  was  the  militia  commander  of  the  District  of 
Columbia.  The  city  was  also  garrisoned  by  one 
hundred  men,  Veteran  Reserves  as  they  were 
called  (or  Invalid  Corps),  with  a  few  dismounted 
cavalry.  The  actual  garrison  of  the  city,  available 
for  duty  and  including  the  Veteran  Eeserves,  one- 
hundred-day-men,  District  militia,  and  other  odds 
and  ends  of  fighting  material,  numbered  less  than 
ten  thousand  effective,  and  these  were  mostly  raw 
men.  These  weak  and  unorganized  forces  were 
thrown  into  the  fortifications,  and  Washington 
stood  agape  while  we  listened  to  the  sound  of  the 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  175 

rebel  cannon  less  than  ten  miles  away.  General 
Halleck  was  then  living  on  Georgetown  Heights, 
where  the  blue-coated  Invalids  mounted  guard 
over  his  residence,  and  the  bugles  nightly  blew 
"  tattoo  "  and  "  taps."  Ill-natured  people  were  ready 
to  suggest  that  the  rebels  might  be  guilty  of  petty 
larceny  should  they  rapidly  march  down  Rock  Creek 
and  seize  upon  Halleek,  who  for  various  reasons  was 
bitterly  unpopular  in  Washington.  The  President 
and  his  family  were  at  their  summer  residence,  the 
Soldiers'  Home,  on  the  outskirts  of  Washington, 
about  half-way  between  the  outer  line  of  fortifica 
tions  at  Fort  Stevens  and  the  city ;  but  on  Sunday 
night,  the  10th,  Secretary  Stanton,  finding  that  the 
enemy  was  within  striking  distance  of  that  point, 
sent  out  a  carriage  with  positive  orders  that  the 
President  should  return  to  the  White  House.  Lin 
coln,  very  much  irritated,  and  against  his  will,  came 
back  to  town.  He  was  subsequently  greatly  dis 
composed  and  annoyed  wrhen  he  found  that  the 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Captain  G.  V.  Fox, 
had  kept  under  orders  a  small  navy  vessel  in  the 
Potomac  for  the  President's  escape  in  case  the 
rebel  column  should  succeed  in  piercing  the  line  of 
fortifications.  The  wildest  estimates  of  the  force  of 
the  invaders  were  made,  and  flying  rumors  were  to 
the  effect  that  Early,  Ewell,  Imboden,  and  Breckin- 
ridge  were  in  command  of  some  forty  thousand  men. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  were,  according  to  the 
records,  not  many  more  than  twelve  thousand  men. 
There  was  a  vast  amount  of  hurrying  to  and  fro 
between  the  War  Department,  the  White  House, 
and  the  exterior  lines  of  defense,  and  the  telegraph 


176  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

wire  was  constantly  worked  to  its  fullest  capacity. 
There  were  not  a  few  domestic  rebels  in  Washington 
who  looked  on  this  commotion  with  undisguised  glee. 

In  Georgetown  one  nest  of  secessionists  was 
rudely  broken  in  upon  by  the  provost  guard,  who 
discovered  a  half-finished  Confederate  flag  in  the 
house.  The  men  were  marched  over  to  the  guard 
house,  and  the  unfinished  colors,  probably  intended 
to  be  presented  to  Early,  were  promptly  confiscated. 
This  was  not  the  only  flag  made  to  be  presented  to 
the  rebels  when  they  should  effect  their  triumphal 
entry  into  Washington.  But  early  on  Monday  morn 
ing  part  of  the  Sixth  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac  landed  at  Washington,  having  come  from  the 
James  River  in  swift  transports ;  another  division 
(Ricketts's)  was  already  in  Maryland.  The  thirteen 
thousand  men  landing  in  Washington  were  com 
manded  by  General  Horatio  G.  Wright.  About  noon 
the  Nineteenth  Corps,  under  command  of  General 
W.  H.  Emory,  arrived  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by 
way  of  Fort  Monroe,  and  Washington  breathed 
more  freely. 

General  Alexander  McD.  McCook  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  troops  and  fortifications ;  and  General 
Augur,  who  at  that  time  was  commander  of  the  De 
partment  of  Washington,  had  under  him  all  the 
available  men  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  including 
a  considerable  number  of  drafted  men  from  Camp 
Convalescent  at  Alexandria.  Colonel  Wise  well,  mili 
tary  governor  of  the  city,  had  orders  to  detail  all  of 
the  ablebodied  men  in  the  hospitals;  and  before  the 
night  of  Monday,  thirty-two  hundred  fighting  men 
from  those  institutions,  officered,  provisioned,  and 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN^   TIME  177 

armed,  were  on  their  way  to  the  front.  "  Contraband" 
negroes  and  refugees  were  also  pressed  into  the  ser 
vice,  and  at  twelve  o'clock  on  the  night  of  July  11 
it  was  estimated  that  there  were  within  the  fortifica 
tions  of  Washington  sixty  thousand  men,  armed  and 
equipped  for  fight.  Clearly,  the  time  for  a  success 
ful  assault  by  the  rebel  column  had  passed.  But  if 
the  invasion  of  Maryland  was  designed  to  create  a 
diversion  from  Grant's  army,  then  in  front  of  Rich 
mond,  that  end  was  successful ;  and  while  a  great 
force  of  effective  men  was  kept  at  bay  within  the 
defenses  of  Washington,  the  bulk  of  Early's  army 
was  busy  sweeping  up  all  available  plunder,  and 
sending  it  southward  across  the  Potomac. 

It  was  popularly  believed  in  the  North  at  that 
time  that  President  Lincoln  was  greatly  disturbed 
by  the  imminence  of  the  danger  of  the  capture  of 
Washington ;  but  I  learned  from  his  own  lips  that 
his  chief  anxiety  was  that  the  invading  forces  might 
not  be  permitted  to  get  away.  Speaking  of  their 
escape,  afterward,  he  said  that  General  Halleck's 
manifest  desire  to  avoid  taking  any  responsibility 
without  the  immediate  sanction  of  General  Grant 
was  the  main  reason  why  the  rebels,  having  threat 
ened  Washington  and  sacked  the  peaceful  farms 
and  villages  of  Maryland,  got  off  scatheless. 

If  Lincoln  was  the  meddlesome  marplot  in  mili 
tary  affairs  which  some  have  represented  him  to  be, 
he  would  have  peremptorily  ordered  a  sortie  of  the 
Union  forces,  then  numerously  massed  inside  the 
defenses  of  Washington;  but  although  he  was 
"  agonized  "  (as  he  said)  over  the  evident  failure  of 
all  attempts  at  pursuit,  he  kept  his  hands  off. 


178  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

Grant's  distance  from  the  scene,  Halleck's  disin 
clination  to  take  the  responsibility  of  pursuit,  and 
Lincoln's  firm  refusal  to  decide  any  military  ques 
tion  of  detail,  resulted  in  the  safe  departure  of 
Early  and  his  forces.  It  may  as  well  be  said  that 
throughout  the  long  and  weary  months  of  the  war 
which  followed  this  panic  in  "Washington,  Lincoln 
frequently  referred  to  the  escape  of  Early  as  one  of 
the  distressing  features  of  his  experience  in  the  city 
of  Washington.  He  went  out  to  Fort  Stevens  during 
the  skirmish  in  front  of  that  fortification  on  July 
12,  and  repeatedly  exposed  himself  in  the  coolest 
manner  to  the  fire  of  the  rebel  sharp-shooters.  He 
had  once  said  to  me  that  he  lacked  physical  cour 
age,  although  he  had  a  fair  share  of  the  moral  qual 
ity  of  that  virtue;  but  his  calm  unconsciousness 
of  danger  while  the  bullets  were  flying  thick  and 
fast  about  him  was  ample  proof  that  he  would  not 
have  dropped  his  musket  and  run,  as  he  believed  he 
certainly  would,  at  the  first  sign  of  physical  danger. 

The  scene  of  the  desultory  fighting  in  front  of 
Washington  was  novel  and  striking  to  a  party  of 
us  (civilians)  who  surveyed  the  field  immediately 
after  the  rebels  had  fled.  We  saw  the  last  glimpse 
of  the  dust  which  the  skedaddling  pickets  left  be 
hind  them  as  they  rode  off  in  the  direction  of  Ed- 
wards's  Ferry.  We  found  traces  of  rebel  occupation 
five  or  six  miles  from  Washington,  where  houses 
had  been  held  by  the  invaders,  the  rightful  owners 
thereof  having  incontinently  fled  at  the  approach 
of  the  enemy.  Horses  had  been  picketed  in  the  or 
chards;  fences  were  torn  down  and  used  for  fire 
wood,  and  books,  letters,  and  women's  wearing-ap- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN^    TIME  179 

parel  were  scattered  about  the  grounds,  showing 
that  the  raiders  had  made  the  best  use  of  their  time 
in  looting  the  houses  where  they  had  been  quar 
tered.  Iii  one  comfortable  family  mansion,  now 
in  a  sad  state  of  wreck,  we  found  such  a  disorder 
as  might  have  reigned  if  a  wild  Western  cyclone 
had  swept  through  the  building.  Furniture  was 
smashed,  crockery  broken,  and  even  a  handsome 
piano  was  split  up  in  the  very  wantonness  of  de 
struction.  Obscene  drawings  covered  the  walls,  and 
one  inscription,  scrawled  with  charcoal  over  the 
place  where  the  piano  had  stood,  read,  "Fifty  thou 
sand  Virginian  homes  have  been  devastated  in  like 
manner."  The  houses  were  littered  with  the  tattered 
remnants  of  butternut-colored  uniforms,  as  if  the 
invaders  had  effected  that  fair  exchange  which  in 
time  of  war  is  no  robbery ;  and  a  picturesque  dis 
order  reigned  in  my  lady's  chamber,  as  well  as  in 
kitchen  and  pantry  of  homes  suddenly  vacated  at 
the  approach  of  the  rebel  soldiery. 

It  should  be  said  that  the  panic  in  Washington, 
although  tolerably  severe  among  the  more  unin 
formed  of  the  residents,  was  by  no  means  so  utter 
as  people  at  a  distance  from  the  national  capital 
generally  supposed;  and  in  government  circles 
there  was  no  fear  entertained  after  the  first  dash 
had  been  ineffectively  made  by  Early's  troops.  In 
the  country  at  large,  however,  the  effect  of  this 
demonstration  was  somewhat  depressing.  The  cap 
ital  had  been  threatened ;  the  President's  safety 
had  been  imperiled;  only  a  miracle  had  saved  trea 
sures,  records,  and  archives  from  the  fate  that  over 
took  them  when  Cockburn  seized  the  city  during 


180  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

the  War  of  1812.  These  were  some  of  the  highly  col 
ored  pictures  presented  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  by  alarmists  and  prophets  of  disaster  dur 
ing  the  week  of  the  raid  and  thereafter.  But  there 
was  no  such  frantic  panic  in  Washington. 

McCLELLAN'S   NOMINATION   AT   CHICAGO 

AT  such  a  time  as  this  the  men  who  were  deter 
mined  on  a  declaration  of  "  peace  at  any  price  "  met 
in  Chicago  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the  presi 
dency.  The  Democratic  convention  of  that  year  had 
first  been  called  to  meet  on  July  4 ;  but  the  doings  of 
the  Cleveland  convention,  which  had  nominated 
Fremont,  and  those  of  the  Baltimore  convention,  at 
which  Lincoln  had  been  nominated,  probably  in 
duced  the  Democratic  managers  to  postpone  the  as 
sembling  of  their  convention  until  a  later  date  — 
August  29,  1864.  By  this  time  it  was  pretty  well 
settled  that  McClellan,  although  a  war  leader  and  a 
war  candidate,  would  be  the  nominee  of  the  Demo 
cratic  convention ;  and  people  wondered  how  the 
advocates  of  peace  would  arrange  to  square  their  war 
candidate  on  a  peace  platform.  A  few  days  before 
the  meeting  of  the  Democratic  convention,  just  prior 
to  my  leaving  Washington  for  Chicago,  the  Presi 
dent  said  to  me :  "  They  must  nominate  a  Peace 
Democrat  on  a  war  platform,  or  a  War  Democrat  on 
a  peace  platform ;  and  I  personally  can't  say  that  I 
care  much  which  they  do." 

About  this  time,  as  we  now  learn  from  Nicolay  and 
Hay's  "History  of  Lincoln,"  the  President  wrote, 
sealed,  and  put  aside  the  following  memorandum, 


WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME  181 

which  was  dated  August  23, 1864 :  "  This  morning, 
as  for  some  days  past,  it  seems  exceedingly  probable 
that  this  administration  will  not  be  reflected.  Then 
it  will  be  my  duty  to  so  cooperate  with  the  President 
elect  as  to  save  the  Union  between  the  election  and 
the  inauguration ;  as  he  will  have  secured  his  elec 
tion  on  such  ground  that  he  cannot  possibly  save  it 
afterward."  On  the  evening  of  August  24  I  called 
on  the  President  to  say  good-by,  as  I  intended  to 
leave  for  Chicago  the  following  day ;  and  although 
Lincoln  had  already  put  himself  on  record  as  more 
than  doubtful  of  his  own  reelection,  he  said :  "  Good- 
by.  Don't  be  discouraged ;  I  don't  believe  that  God 
has  forsaken  us  yet."  Possibly  the  good  President 
desired  to  inspire  those  whom  he  met  with  some 
thing  of  the  confidence  which  he  did  not  himself  feel. 
But,  at  any  rate,  he  did  regard  with  great  interest 
the  doings  of  the  Democrats  who  were  about  to 
nominate  their  candidate  and  build  their  platform. 
Knowing  that  I  would  not  return  to  Washington  un 
til  a  week  or  two  after  the  convention  had  adjourned, 
he  asked  me  to  write  two  or  three  letters,  as  the  con 
vention  should  unfold  its  plans,  giving  him  "  some 
of  the  political  gossip  that  would  not  find  its  way 
into  the  newspapers."  These  letters,  of  course,  I  wrote 
according  to  his  request ;  and  it  is  a  curious  illustra 
tion  of  his  care  for  all  papers  coming  into  his  hands 
that  they  were  found  after  his  death  in  his  carefully 
preserved  and  voluminous  private  correspondence. 
Although  the  train  on  which  I  traveled  westward 
was  burdened  with  many  distinguished  and  jubilant 
Democratic  leaders,  it  was  notable  that  the  most  con 
spicuous  person  was  Congressman  Harris  of  Mary- 


12* 


182  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

land,  who  had  been  censured  by  the  House  for  so- 
called  treasonable  language.  It  was  known  that  he 
was  on  the  train,  and  whenever  we  stopped  —  and 
that  was  pretty  often  —  the  Butternuts  yelled  vocif 
erously  for  him.  I  made  his  acquaintance,  and  found 
him  a  very  companionable  person ;  he  frankly  said 
that  he  found  himself  much  more  popular  in  the 
West  than  in  Maryland.  It  had  been  bruited  abroad 
that  McClellan  was  on  our  train,  and  at  Plymouth, 
Indiana,  there  was  a  great  call  for  "  Little  Mac."  A 
Union  colonel,  going  home  on  furlough,  was  readily 
passed  off  as  the  redoubtable  general  by  some  of  the 
fun-loving  Democrats,  who  were  determined  that 
their  Indiana  compatriots  should  not  be  disap 
pointed.  The  colonel  made  a  very  ingenious  little 
speech  in  the  character  of  McClellan,  and  was  re 
ceived  with  tremendous  cheers. 

When  we  got  to  Chicago,  and  the  convention  be 
gan  to  assemble  in  the  great  wigwam  near  the  lake 
shore,  Yallandigham,  Alexander  Long,  and  Repre 
sentative  Harris  were  the  "stars"  of  the  occasion. 
Calls  for  them  were  made  at  every  possible  oppor 
tunity,  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that  these  eminent 
Peace  Democrats  were  more  popular  than  any  other 
of  the  delegates  to  the  convention.  It  was  a  noisy 
assemblage,  and  it  was  also  a  Peace  Democratic  con 
vention.  While  Alexander  Long  was  reading  a  set 
of  resolutions,  which  he  proposed  to  have  the  con 
vention  adopt,  asking  for  a  suspension  of  the  draft 
until  after  the  election,  "  Sunset "  Cox  interfered 
with  a  motion  to  have  all  resolutions  referred,  with 
out  reading  or  debate,  to  the  proper  committee; 
whereupon  he  was  roundly  hissed,  and  the  specta- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  183 

tors,  who  to  the  number  of  thousands  filled  the  pit 
of  the  great  building,  yelled,  "  Gret  down,  you  War 
Democrat !  "  much  to  his  discomfiture.  The  crowd 
of  on-lookers  in  the  pit  was  so  great  that  many  of 
them  climbed  up  and  roosted  on  a  fence  which  sepa 
rated  them  from  the  delegates,  and  their  weight  soon 
broke  down  this  slender  barrier,  creating  the  greatest 
confusion.  Frantic  ushers  and  policemen  attempted 
to  preserve  order ;  now  and  then  a  train  crashing  by 
on  the  Lake  Shore  tracks  close  at  hand  added  to  the 
racket,  and  filled  the  huge  building  with  smoke  and 
cinders. 

Horatio  Seymour,  then  governor  of  New  York, 
was  the  president  of  the  Chicago  convention ;  and 
it  must  be  said  that  he  made  a  much  better  presid 
ing  officer  than  ex-Grovernor  Dennison  had  proved 
himself  in  the  chair  of  the  Republican  convention  at 
Baltimore.  Seymour  was  tall,  fine-looking,  of  an 
imposing  figure,  with  a  good  though  colorless  face, 
bright,  dark  eyes,  a  high,  commanding  forehead, 
dark-reddish  hair,  and  slightly  bald.  He  had  a  clear, 
ringing  voice,  with  a  slight  imperfection  in  his 
speech,  and  he  was  in  the  main  an  attractive  and 
effective  speaker,  and  a  capital  presiding  officer. 
His  opening  address,  which  was  very  calm  and  cool, 
was  not  well  received  by  the  crowd,  who  evidently 
wanted  something  more  heart-firing,  and  who  inces 
santly  shouted,  "  Vallandigham  !  Vallandigham  ! " 
But  the  distinguished  exile,  though  he  was  not  far 
away,  was  discreet  enough  to  remain  out  of  sight  un 
til  his  time  came.  His  name  was  presented  by  the 
State  of  Ohio  for  membership  of  the  committee  on 
platform,  and  it  was  well  known  that  the  most  im- 


184  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

portant  plank  in  that  structure  —  that  Avhich  related 
to  the  prosecution  of  the  war  —  was  his.  One  of  the 
conspicuous  figures  in  that  convention  was  James 
Guthrie  of  Kentucky,  a  tall,  huge-limbed,  white- 
haired  man  about  seventy  years  old,  with  a  florid 
complexion,  a  clear  and  well-modulated  voice,  and 
the  general  appearance  of  a  well-fed,  well-groomed 
Kentucky  gentleman  of  the  old  school.  Another 
was  Samuel  J.  Tilden  of  New  York,  who  took  an  ac 
tive  part  in  the  business  of  building  the  platform, 
and  who  surprised  all  to  whom  he  was  a  stranger  by 
his  agile  movements,  his  fresh,  smooth,  almost  boy 
ish  face,  and  his  generally  alert  manner.  When  the 
platform  finally  came  before  the  convention,  late  in 
the  afternoon  of  the  second  day,  the  resolution  which 
was  greeted  with  the  most  vociferous  applause  was 
that  with  which  Vallandigham's  hand  had  been  busy. 
This  was  the  famous  clause  which  explicitly  de 
clared  that "  after  four  years  of  failure  to  restore  the 
Union  by  the  experiment  of  war,  during  which,  un 
der  the  pretense  of  a  military  necessity,  or  war 
power  higher  than  the  Constitution,  the  Constitu 
tion  itself  has  been  disregarded  in  every  part,  .  .  . 
the  public  welfare  demands  that  immediate  efforts 
be  made  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities  with  a  view  to 
an  ultimate  convention  of  the  States,  or  other  peace 
able  means  to  the  end  that  at  the  earliest  practicable 
moment  peace  may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the 
Federal  union  of  the  States."  This  was  the  peace 
platform  which  Lincoln  had  expected.  The  war 
candidate,  of  course,  was  soon  to  be  forthcoming. 
The  faces  of  some  of  the  delegates  when  the  platform 
was  read  and  adopted  were  a  study.  S.  S.  Cox 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  185 

clasped  his  hands  in  his  lap  and  dropped  his  head,  a 
picture  of  despair.  August  Belmont,  who  was  the 
chairman  of  the  National  Committee  that  year,  also 
looked  profoundly  sad.  But  Vallandigham  and 
Alexander  Long  rubbed  their  hands  with  unre 
strained  glee,  and  as  soon  as  his  famous  resolution 
was  adopted  the  former  was  surrounded  by  con 
gratulating  friends.  It  was  clear  that  the  returned 
exile  was  the  hero  of  the  occasion. 

When  the  presidential  nominations  were  finally 
before  the  convention,  Harris  of  Maryland  took  the 
floor,  and  attempted  to  make  a  speech  against  Mc- 
Clellan.  Although  the  chairman  at  first  ruled  him 
to  be  out  of  order,  he  went  on  shrieking  and  vocifer 
ating,  denouncing  McClellan  for  his  so-called  arbi 
trary  arrests  in  Maryland,  and  saying  that  he  had 
initiated  tyranny  and  oppression  before  Lincoln 
had.  The  house  rose  at  Harris  as  one  man,  cheer 
ing  and  encouraging  him  to  go  on.  Promising  to 
speak  in  order,  he  went  up  to  the  platform,  and 
proceeded  with  his  vituperation  and  abuse.  He  in 
sisted  that  Lincoln  had  found  an  assassin  of  State 
rights  in  G-eorge  B.  McClellan,  and  shrieked,  "  Will 
you  vote  for  such  a  man?  I  never  will!"  At  this 
point  several  War  Democrats  objected  to  his  pro 
ceeding,  because,  as  they  very  properly  said,  if  he 
would  not  promise  to  support  the  nominee  of  the 
convention,  he  was  not  fit  to  be  a  member  of  that 
body,  much  less  to  make  a  speech  to  it.  He  was 
accordingly  ruled  out  and  disappeared  from  the 
platform;  and  as  he  went  back  to  his  seat  a  New 
York  delegate  rose  and  called  him  a  "traitor." 
Harris  promptly  struck  his  defamer,  and  for  a 


186  WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

time  there  was  a  scene  of  general  uproar  and  riot 
ous  confusion. 

The  Maryland  delegates  as  a  rule  were  opposed 
to  McClellan  on  account  of  his  so-called  arbitrary 
arrests  in  their  State  earlier  in  the  war.  General 
Morgan,  an  Ohio  delegate,  attempted  a  defense  of 
McClellan's  conduct  in  Maryland,  and  said  that 
McClellan  would  have  been  a  traitor  if  he  had  not 
acted  as  he  did,  boldly  and  promptly,  in  arresting 
the  conspirators  in  the  Maryland  legislature.  At 
this  there  was  a  wrathful  outburst  from  the  Mary 
land  delegation,  who  contradicted  the  Ohioan,  and 
compelled  him  to  diverge  from  that  branch  of  the 
discussion. 

Alexander  Long  was  another  irreconcilable  dele 
gate  who  insisted  that  freedom  of  speech  had  been 
denied  him  in  this  Democratic  convention,  and  who, 
when  indulgently  allowed  to  speak,  went  on  to  say 
that  McClellan  was  "the  worst  and  weakest  man" 
who  could  be  nominated  at  that  time;  he  begged 
that  the  convention  would  nominate  Seymour  of 
New  York,  or  Vallandigham,  or  anybody  but  "this 
weak  tool  of  Lincoln's."  Speeches  like  these  from 
both  wings  of  the  jarring  Democracy  wore  out  the 
patience  of  the  delegates  and  the  spectators,  and 
the  second  day  closed  without  a  nomination. 

Chicago  was  wild  that  night  with  brass  bands 
and  cheering  Democrats,  who  visited  the  different 
hotels,  and  insisted  upon  speeches  from  prominent 
delegates.  In  front  of  the  Sherman  House  there 
was  a  vociferous  demand  for  Dean  Richmond,  who, 
tall,  corpulent,  big-nosed,  austere  and  arbitrary  in 
his  manner,  and  looming  up  with  his  high  white 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME  187 

hat  aud  blue-tailed  coat,  was  stalking  about  the 
lobbies  of  the  hotel,  while  his  friend  Peter  Cagger, 
"three  sheets  in  the  wind,"  was  impersonating 
Richmond  at  an  upper  window,  and  making  a 
speech  which  convulsed  the  crowd  with  laughter. 
Although  McClellan  was  the  inevitable  nominee 
of  the  convention,  he  did  not  receive  the  honor 
until  one  formal  ballot  had  been  taken.  The  first 
ballot  gave  him  150  votes ;  Thomas  H.  Seymour  of 
Connecticut  had  43  votes,  and  Horatio  Seymour  of 
New  York  received  7.  There  were  two  scattering 
votes  cast.  The  roll-call  had  been  finished,  but  the 
balloting  was  practically  settled  by  the  action  of 
Missouri,  which,  having  previously  voted  solidly 
for  Thomas  H.  Seymour,  now  divided  its  strength, 
and  cast  7  votes  for  McClellan,  and  4  for  Thomas 
H.  Seymour,  amid  great  cheering.  There  was  then 
a  great  landslide  of  votes  for  McClellan,  until  all 
but  the  most  uncompromising  of  the  Peace  Demo 
crats  had  gone  over  to  the  inevitable  nominee. 
Long,  Vallandigham,  and  others  held  out  until  the 
last;  and  after  all  changes  were  made,  the  final 
vote  was  announced  thus:  McClellan,  202J;  Thomas 
H.  Seymour,  23£.  Instantly  the  pent-up  feelings  of 
the  crowd  broke  forth  in  the  most  rapturous  man 
ner  :  cheers,  yells,  music,  and  screams  indescribable 
rent  the  air,  and  outside  the  wigwam  a  park  of  can 
non  volleyed  a  salute  in  honor  of  the  nominee.  The 
long  agony  was  over,  and  men  threw  up  their  hats, 
and  behaved  as  much  like  bedlamites  as  men  usu 
ally  do  under  such  circumstances.  When  order  was 
restored,  Vallandigham,  who  until  then  had  not 
spoken,  mounted  the  rostrum,  and  moved  that  the 


188  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

nomination  be  made  unanimous.  It  is  impossible 
to  describe  the  tremendous  applause  which  greeted 
the  appearance  of  the  Ohio  "  martyr,"  who  had  only 
lately  returned  through  Canada  from  his  exile.  His 
appearance  on  the  platform,  bland,  smiling,  and 
rosy,  was  the  signal  for  a  terrific  outburst  before  he 
could  open  his  mouth;  and  when  his  little  speech 
was  done,  another  whirlwind  of  applause  greeted 
his  magnanimous  motion  in  favor  of  a  war  can 
didate. 

Some  of  the  speeches  that  followed  were  full  of 
venom  and  denunciation.  Charles  A.  Wickliffe, 
who  was  commonly  known  in  Washington  as  "Old 
Kentucky,"  offered  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  his 
State  expected  that  the  first  act  of  the  new  Demo 
cratic  administration  would  be  "to  open  the  prison 
doors,  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free."  Wickliffe 
had  previously  raised  a  laugh  in  the  convention  by 
nominating  ex-President  Pierce  in  an  amusing  and 
wandering  speech.  Later  on,  after  the  nomination 
of  vice-president,  "Wickliffe  again  distinguished  him 
self  by  adjuring  the  convention  to  refrain  from 
an  adjournment  sine  die.  He  insisted  that  he  and 
his  colleagues  in  the  West  were  "of  the  opinion 
that  circumstances  may  occur  between  now  and 
March  4  next  which  will  make  it  proper  for  the 
Democracy  of  the  country  to  meet  in  convention 
again."  Although  the  real  motive  for  this  proposed 
action  was  not  apparent  to  anybody,  so  far  as  I 
could  learn  by  talking  with  the  delegates  afterward, 
Wickliffe's  suggestion  was  received  with  a  shout  of 
boisterous  applause.  Mystery  characterized  many 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  convention,  and  the 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  189 

mysteriousness  of  this  proposition  appeared  to  be 
significant  to  the  delegates.  It  was  taken  as  a 
warning  that  the  managers  of  the  party  expected 
something  extraordinary  to  happen,  and  were  de 
termined  to  be  ready  for  any  emergency  that  might 
arise;  so  the  convention  accordingly  adopted  a  reso 
lution  to  "  remain  as  organized,  subject  to  be  called 
at  any  time  and  place  that  the  Executive  National 
Committee  shall  designate."  It  is  a  matter  of  his 
tory,  however,  that  the  convention  never  was  called 
together  again,  and  the  reason  for  this  cautious  an 
chor  to  windward  has  never  been  disclosed. 

George  H.  Pendleton  was  nominated  for  vice- 
president  without  much  difficulty,  although  there 
were  several  other  candidates  in  the  field.  Indiana 
had  proposed  the  name  of  her  favorite  son,  "  the 
Tall  Sycamore  of  the  Wabash,"  D.  W.  Voorhees ; 
Pennsylvania  had  nominated  George  W.  Cass ;  Ver 
mont,  James  Guthrie  of  Kentucky ;  Illinois,  Judge 
John  D.  Caton;  Delaware,  Lazarus  W.  Powell  of 
Kentucky ;  Missouri,  John  S.  Phelps  of  that  State ; 
and  Iowa,  Augustus  Caesar  Dodge,  once  minister  to 
Spain.  It  was  the  large  vote  of  New  York  which 
finally  made  Pendleton's  nomination  inevitable. 
This  State  had  withheld  its  vote  until  it  was  obvi 
ous  that  its  sudden  dropping  would  decide  the  con 
test  ;  then  it  was  ponderously  thrown  to  Pendleton, 
and  the  contest  was  virtually  over.  Pendleton  was 
present  as  a  delegate  from  Ohio,  and,  mounting  the 
platform,  made  a  pleasant  speech.  The  convention 
broke  up  in  the  most  admirable  disorder,  and  that 
night  the  city  of  Chicago  seemed  drunk  with  politi 
cal  excitement.  Although  many  of  the  leaders  had 


190  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

left  by  afternoon  trains,  the  marching  mobs  halted 
under  the  windows  of  all  the  principal  hotels,  and 
demanded  speeches  until  midnight  fell,  and  some 
thing  like  silence  reigned  in  the  city. 

It  was  during  the  last  days  of  August  that  the 
convention  declared  that  the  war  was  a  failure,  and 
that  peace  must  be  sought  in  a  convention  of  Fed 
erals  and  Confederates.  On  September  3  Wash 
ington  received  from  Sherman  the  good  news  of 
the  fall  of  Atlanta,  and  President  Lincoln  issued 
an  order  in  which  the  national  thanks  were  given 
to  General  Sherman  and  the  officers  and  soldiers 
of  his  command  before  Atlanta  "  for  the  distin 
guished  ability,  courage,  and  perseverance  dis 
played  in  the  campaign  in  Georgia,  which,  under 
divine  favor,  has  resulted  in  the  capture  of  At 
lanta."  And  at  the  same  time  Grant,  at  City  Point, 
telegraphed  to  Sherman  :  "In  honor  of  your  great 
victory  I  have  ordered  a  salute  to  be  fired  with 
shotted  guns  from  every  battery  bearing  upon  the 
enemy.  The  salute  will  be  fired  within  an  hour, 
amid  great  rejoicing."  The  tide  had  turned.  The 
Democratic  campaign  of  1864  began  under  very 
different  auspices  from  those  which  had  attended 
the  assembling  of  the  convention  which  nominated 
a  war  candidate  on  a  peace  platform.  The  dark 
days  were  over. 

CHASE  ON  THE  SUPREME  BENCH. 

ANOTHER  historic  event  which  marked  the  wonder 
ful  transition  in  political  affairs  in  this  republic  was 
the  inauguration  of  Salmon  P.  Chase  as  chief  jus- 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME  191 

tice  of  the  United  States.  It  was  a  curious  coinci 
dence  that  his  immediate  predecessor,  Roger  B. 
Taney,  was,  like  himself,  an  ex-secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  Students  of  American  political  history 
will  recollect  that  Taney  was  appointed  secretary  of 
the  Treasury  by  Andrew  Jackson  in  his  fierce  and 
vindictive  prosecution  of  a  war  against  the  United 
States  Bank.  "William  J.  Duane,  as  secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  had  refused  to  become  the  willing  tool  of 
Jackson  in  that  contest ;  and  Taney,  who  promised 
to  do  the  bidding  of  "  Old  Hickory,"  was  appointed 
in  his  place,  and  did  the  work  required  of  him.  Sub 
sequently,  when  the  office  of  chief  justice  became 
vacant,  Taney  was  promoted  to  that  exalted  station; 
and  it  surely  is  no  violence  to  the  memory  of  either 
of  these  two  famous  men  to  say  that  the  chief-jus 
ticeship  was  Taney's  reward  for  his  services  in  re 
moving  the  government  deposits  from  the  United 
States  Bank,  as  Andrew  Jackson  had  decreed. 

Many  years  had  passed  since  that  time,  and  the 
incidents  of  Taney's  earlier  career  had  been  well-nigh 
forgotten  when  he  once  more  made  his  name  con 
spicuous  by  the  infamous  Dred  Scott  decision,  which 
was  to  the  effect  that  the  negro  has  no  rights  that 
the  white  man  is  bound  to  respect,  although  these 
were  not  the  exact  terms  of  the  dictum  then  given. 
Lincoln  himself  thus  summarized  the  opinion  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  as  enunciated  by  the 
Chief  Justice :  "  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  forbids  Congress  to  deprive  a  man  of  his 
property  without  due  process  of  law.  The  right  of 
property  in  slaves  is  distinctly  and  expressly  af 
firmed  in  that  Constitution :  therefore  if  Congress 


192  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

shall  undertake  to  say  that  a  man's  slave  is  no  longer 
his  slave  when  he  crosses  a  certain  line  into  a  Terri 
tory,  that  is  depriving  him  of  his  property  without 
due  process  of  law."  Now,  in  the  fullness  of  time, 
Taney  had  passed  away,  and  another  secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  of  high  character,  distinguished  alike 
for  his  services  to  the  cause  of  human  freedom  and 
to  the  American  nation,  received  the  noblest  honor 
in  the  gift  of  the  national  executive.  It  was  unfor 
tunate  that  some  of  the  new  Chief  Justice's  over- 
zealous  and  indiscreet  friends  gleefully  claimed  that 
President  Lincoln  was  coerced  into  making  that  ap 
pointment,  and  scornfully  insisted  that  it  was  a  popu 
lar  choice  forced  upon  the  President  by  men  who 
controlled  confirmations  in  the  Senate.  It  was  la 
mentable  that  when  Lincoln  willingly  paid  a  noble 
honor  to  one  who  had  been  his  competitor  for  the 
presidential  nomination,  he  could  not  have  at  least 
the  poor  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  purity  of 
his  motives  and  the  fixity  of  his  intention  were  ap 
preciated  by  those  who  made  Chase  and  Chase's  am 
bitions  the  excuse  for  conspiring  against  the  good 
name  of  Lincoln.  As  a  matter  of  history,  it  should 
be  recorded  that  Lincoln  never  intended  to  appoint 
any  other  man  than  Chase  to  the  chief -justiceship, 
and  never  for  one  moment  had  he  entertained  the 
name  of  any  other  person.  It  was  a  peculiar  trait 
of  Lincoln  that,  in  order  to  preclude  all  possibility  of 
doubt  in  his  own  mind  concerning  the  expediency  of 
any  contemplated  act,  he  would  state  to  those  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact  many  doubts  and  objec 
tions  not  his  own,  but  those  of  others,  for  the  express 
purpose  of  being  confirmed  and  fixed  in  his  own 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME  193 

judgment.  For  example,  when  a  Chicago  ministe 
rial  delegation  visited  Lincoln,  and  urged  upon  him 
the  expediency  of  issuing  an  emancipation  procla 
mation,  it  was  this  mental  habit  that  induced  him  to 
argue  with  his  visitors  as  though  his  mind  were  not 
already  made  up,  and  as  if  he  were  really  uncertain 
as  to  his  course  in  regard  to  that  great  measure. 
When  those  Chicago  clergymen  read  the  emancipa 
tion  proclamation,  for  the  coming  of  which  Lincoln 
had  given  them  no  hope,  they  must  have  been 
amazed  by  what  they  perhaps  thought  was  an  evi 
dence  of  Lincoln's  secretiveness.  And,  as  a  matter 
of  truth,  it  may  be  said  that  when  Sumner  and 
others  importuned  President  Lincoln  to  nominate 
Chase  to  the  chief -justiceship,  and  he  replied  in  a 
doubtful  manner,  he  had  really  made  up  his  mind 
to  nominate  Chase. 

A  curious  complication  arose  over  the  appoint 
ment  of  Chase,  which  made  his  public  inauguration 
a  matter  of  doubt  for  a  week  or  two.  The  form  of 
procedure  prescribed  in  such  a  case  requires  that 
the  letters  patent  of  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
shall  pass  through  the  hands  of  the  Attorney-Gen 
eral  of  the  United  States.  At  that  time  Mr.  James 
Speed  had  been  appointed  attorney-general  in 
place  of  Mr.  Edward  Bates,  resigned.  The  Senate 
judiciary  committee  held  up  the  nomination  sev 
eral  days,  not  because  they  hesitated  at  confirming 
Speed,  but,  as  one  of  that  committee  said,  "  to  con 
vey  a  mild  insinuation  to  the  President  that  they 
did  not  know  who  James  Speed  of  Kentucky  was." 
Meanwhile  the  documents  necessary  to  complete 
the  induction  of  Mr.  Chase  into  his  new  office  could 


194  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

not  be  issued.  Bates  was  out,  and  Speed  was  not 
in.  Five  times  people  who  frequented  the  Capitol 
filled  the  limits  of  the  Supreme  Court  room,  in  the 
expectation  that  they  would  see  the  inauguration 
of  the  Chief  Justice,  and  five  times  were  they  dis 
appointed  ;  for  the  Senate  boggled  over  the  confir 
mation  of  the  functionary  whose  signature  was  all 
that  was  needed  to  enable  the  new  Chief  Justice  to 
put  on  his  official  robes.  Finally,  however,  on  De 
cember  15,  1864,  for  the  sixth  time  the  crowd  as 
sembled,  and  all  was  ready.  The  noble  room  of  the 
Supreme  Court  was  overflowing  with  an  immense 
throng  of  dignitaries  of  various  degrees,  ladies,  con 
gressmen,  foreign  ministers,  and  others  who  washed 
to  view  the  simple  but  impressive  ceremony  of 
swearing  in  the  chief  judicial  officer  of  the  republic. 
The  rush  was  very  great,  and  a  rippling  tide  of  hu 
manity,  chiefly  women,  overflowed  into  the  sacred 
precincts  of  the  bar,  where  sat  ponderous  Tom 
Ewing,  white-headed  Eeverdy  Johnson,  Secretary 
Seward,  and  other  distinguished  lawyers.  There 
were  Senator  Sprague,  with  his  wife,  Mrs.  Kate 
Chase  Sprague,  and  her  sister,  gorgeously  dressed ; 
Nathaniel  P.  Banks,  erect  and  martial-looking; 
gray-headed  Ben  Wade ;  and  other  personages 
whose  names  are  famous.  Just  in  the  rear  of  the 
Supreme  Bench,  on  the  right,  the  elegant  form  of 
Charles  Simmer  leaned  against  one  of  the  marble 
columns  in  a  fine  and  studied  pose ;  his  handsome 
features  plainly  showed  his  inward  glow  of  grati 
fication.  The  soft  stir  of  the  chamber  was  broken 
by  the  voice  of  the  usher,  who  announced  in  a  loud 
official  tone,  "  The  Honorable  Justices  of  the  Su- 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  195 

preme  Court  of  the  United  States";  whereupon 
through  the  side  entrance  behind  the  bench  entered 
the  gowned  justices,  headed  by  Justice  Wayne,  the 
senior  member  of  the  bench,  arm  in  arm  with  the 
newly  appointed  Chief  Justice.  The  justices  ad 
vanced  to  their  several  chairs,  and  bowed  to  the 
left  and  to  the  right ;  and  the  bar,  remaining  stand 
ing,  collectively  bowed  in  return.  Then  the  new 
Chief  Justice  came  forward  to  his  chair,  and  Justice 
Wayne  handed  him  a  paper  containing  the  oath, 
which  Mr.  Chase  opened,  and  read  in  a  clear  but 
tremulous  voice,  as  follows :  "  I,  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will,  as  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  adminis 
ter  equal  and  exact  justice  to  the  poor  and  to  the 
rich,  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  to  the  best  of  my  abil 
ity."  Then,  laying  down  the  paper,  he  lifted  his 
right  hand,  looked  upward  to  the  beautiful  dome 
of  the  court-room,  and  with  deep  feeling  added, 
"So  help  me  God."  A  breathless  hush  pervaded 
the  chamber,  and  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United 
States  took  his  seat.  Then  the  clerk,  with  a  good 
deal  of  tremor  in  his  voice,  read  aloud  the  letters 
patent  of  the  Chief  Justice ;  the  simple  ceremony 
was  over,  and  the  routine  business  of  the  court  began. 
As  the  crowd  decorously  moved  out  of  the  room 
I  came  face  to  face  with  "  Bluff  Ben  Wade."  My 
eyes  met  his,  which  were  actually  suffused  with 
tears;  and  with  great  grimuess,  but  with  much 
fervor,  he  said,  "Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  ser 
vant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy 
salvation." 


196  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

A  few  days  after  the  appointment  of  Chief  Jus 
tice  Chase  the  President  was  visited  by  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Electoral  College  of  Maryland,  who,  in 
the  course  of  the  interview,  expressed  their  satis 
faction  with  the  act  of  the  President  in  elevating 
Mr.  Chase  to  the  Supreme  Bench.  In  reply  the 
President  said  that  he  trusted  that  the  appoint 
ment  would  be  for  the  best.  The  country,  he  ad 
ded,  needed  some  assurances  on  two  points  of  great 
national  importance ;  and  there  was  an  assurance 
that  could  be  better  given  by  the  character  and 
well-known  opinions  of  the  appointee  than  by  any 
verbal  pledges.  By  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Chase 
all  holders  of  United  States  securities  in  America 
and  Europe  felt  assured  that  the  financial  policy  of 
the  Government  would  be  upheld  by  its  highest  ju 
dicial  tribunal.  In  sustaining  that  policy,  Judge 
Chase  would  be  only  sustaining  himself,  for  he  was 
the  author  of  it.  The  other  point  to  which  Lincoln 
referred  was  that  relating  to  the  constitutionality  of 
the  emancipation  policy  of  the  Government.  He 
said  that  other  distinguished  gentlemen  had  been 
named  as  competent  to  undertake  the  great  trust 
now  borne  by  Judge  Chase ;  but  these  did  not  bear 
the  same  relations  to  those  important  issues  that 
Chase  did,  although  they  were  doubtless  equally 
sound.  When  we  reflect  that  the  financial  policy 
of  the  Government,  so  far  as  it  was  involved  in  the 
legal-tender  law,  was  subsequently  disapproved  by 
the  distinguished  author  of  it,  we  may  well  wonder 
what  Lincoln  would  have  thought  if  he  had  lived 
to  read  the  Chief  Justice's  decision  thereupon. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   DEATH   OF   SLAVERY 

LAST  CASE  UNDER  THE  FUGITIVE-SLAVE  LAWS  —  ABO 
LITION  OF  SLAVERY  IN  THE  DISTRICT  OF  COLUM 
BIA —  COMPENSATED  EMANCIPATION  —  PASSAGE  OF 
THE  THIRTEENTH  AMENDMENT  —  THRILLING  SCENES 
IN  CONGRESS  —  COLORED  PEOPLE  IN  STREET-CARS 

AS  late  as  June,  1862,  although  slavery  had  been 
JL\.  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  in 
famous  Fugitive- Slave  laws  still  remained  on  the 
statute-books.  In  that  month  a  fugitive-slave  case 
came  up  in  Washington,  and  John  Dean,  a  promi 
nent  lawyer,  counsel  for  a  fugitive  from  labor,  was 
indicted  for  aiding  and  assisting  in  the  escape  of 
his  client,  one  Andrew  Hall,  alleged  to  have  been 
owned  by  a  Virginia  gentleman,  who  still  clung  to 
his  property.  Andrew,  while  waiting  for  the  action 
of  the  court  in  his  case,  enlisted  in  one  of  the  col 
ored  regiments  then  being  raised  in  Washington, 
and  thus  settled  his  status  for  himself.  The  indict 
ment  of  the  attorney  in  the  case  was  based  upon 
his  alleged  offense  committed  in  a  "  scrapping 
match "  which  took  place  when  the  fugitive  had 
been  discharged  from  a  first  arrest,  and  was  about 

13'  197 


198  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

to  be  again  taken  into  custody.  The  alleged  owner 
of  the  alleged  fugitive  was  on  hand  when  the  man 
was  discharged,  and  was  about  to  take  him  into 
custody  until  an  arresting  officer  could  arrive  with 
papers  for  his  further  detention.  In  the  little  riot 
which  followed,  Mr.  Dean,  the  attorney  for  the  ne 
gro,  interfered  and  beat  off  the  men  who  were  en 
gaged  in  the  attempt  to  detain  Andrew  by  force  of 
arms  while  waiting  for  the  papers.  The  punish 
ment  for  Dean's  offense,  or  alleged  offense,  would 
have  been  six  months  imprisonment,  or  one  thou 
sand  dollars  fine,  under  the  Fugitive- Slave  law  of 
1850.  The  case  dragged  on  from  term  to  term,  and 
was  finally  dropped  out  of  sight ;  but  Andrew's  en 
listment  in  the  United  States  service  of  course  had 
made  him  a  free  man,  so  far  as  any  obligation  to 
an  alleged  owner  of  human  flesh  and  blood  was 
concerned.  So  far  as  I  know,  this  was  the  last  case 
under  the  Fugitive-Slave  laws  of  which  the  United 
States  courts  took  any  cognizance.  The  affair  cre 
ated  intense  excitement  in  Washington,  more  es 
pecially  in  both  Houses  of  Congress,  which  were 
then  in  session. 


SLAVEKY   IN   THE   DISTRICT   OF   COLUMBIA 

IT  will  be  remembered  that  when  Lincoln  served 
his  single  term  in  Congress  he  introduced  a  bill 
(January,  1849)  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  It  failed  to  pass.  In 
December,  1861,  Senator  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts, 
introduced  bills  in  the  Senate  providing  for  the 
immediate  emancipation  of  all  slaves  in  the  Dis- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  199 

trict  of  Columbia,  and  the  payment  to  loyal  owners 
of  an  average  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars  per 
head,  and  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a  Board 
of  Commissioners  to  assess  the  amounts  to  be  paid 
to  each  slave  owner,  and  appropriating  one  million 
dollars  for  that  purpose.  Singularly  enough,  this 
measure  was  at  first  opposed  by  a  considerable 
number  of  Democratic  Senators  whose  loyalty  to 
the  Union  was  not  for  a  moment  questioned.  Sen 
ator  Willey  of  West  Virginia,  for  example,  opposed 
the  bill  in  a  speech  in  which  he  insisted  that  the 
policy  of  the  Union  party  had  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  the  abolition  of  slavery  or  with  its  main 
tenance  ;  that  the  slavery  question  was  one  entirely 
outside  of  all  measures  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union.  The  debate  ran  on  several  days,  and  dur 
ing  that  time  a  great  many  decent-looking  and  in 
telligent-appearing  colored  men  thronged  to  the 
Senate  to  hear  what  the  speakers  had  to  say  on 
the  general  question.  G-arrett  Davis  said  he  was 
astonished  at  the  impudence  of  these  colored  peo 
ple,  who  were  concerned  to  know  whether  they 
were  to  be  property  or  free  men ;  and  in  a  partic 
ularly  vituperative  speech,  one  afternoon,  he  called 
attention  to  the  predominance  of  black  people  in 
the  galleries,  and  said:  "A  few  days  ago,  I  saw 
several  negroes  thronging  the  open  door  of  the 
Senate  and  listening  to  the  debate  on  this  subject. 
I  suppose  in  a  few  months  they  will  be  crowding 
white  ladies  out  of  the  galleries"!  "  Senator  Davis's 
opinion  was  that  the  liberation  of  the  slaves  in  the 
rebellious  States  would  be  of  no  avail,  because  as 
soon  as  the  States  should  be  reorganized  as  an  in- 


200  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

tegral  part  of  the  Union,  "  the  white  inhabitants  of 
those  States  w^ould  reduce  the  slaves  again  to  a 
state  of  bondage  or  would  expel  them  from  their 
borders  and  hunt  them  like  wild  animals."  But 
notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  such  men  as  the 
erratic  Kentuckian,  the  Wilson  bill  finally  passed 
the  Senate  by  twenty-nine  votes  to  six. 

Thaddeus  Stevens  had  charge  of  the  bill  when  it 
came  up  in  the  House  early  in  the  following  April. 
It  was  opposed  in  the  House  by  the  same  class  of 
politicians  that  had  fought  it  in  the  Senate.  Even 
so  liberal  a  Democrat  as  John  J.  Crittenden  spoke 
and  voted  against  the  bill,  and  Wickliffe  of  Ken 
tucky  said:  "I  hope  the  friends  of  this  bill  will 
not  so  far  outrage  the  laws  of  the  District  as  to 
authorize  slaves  or  free  negroes  to  be  witnesses  in 
any  case  before  the  courts."  Vallaiidigham  also 
opposed  the  measure  with  great  vehemence,  and 
declared  that  there  were  not  ten  men  in  the  next 
preceding  Congress  who  would  have  voted  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
But  the  bill  passed  the  House  by  a  vote  of  ninety- 
two  to  thirty-eight.  This  famous  act  was  finally 
approved  by  the  President,  and  became  a  law  on 
April  16,  1862,  and  great  was  the  jubilation,  not 
only  throughout  the  District,  but  all  over  the  loyal 
States.  The  city  of  Washington  was  the  scene  of 
a  remarkable  parade,  alleged  to  be  made  up  of  free 
negroes,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  not  until 
months  after  that  that  freedom  was  attained  in  the 
District. 

One  morning  in  the  latter  part  of  January,  1863, 
while  passing  through  the  Treasury  Department,  I 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  201 

noticed  a  large  crowd  of  persons  gathered  in  a  cor 
ridor  and  waiting  their  turn  to  enter  Room  No.  18. 
My  curiosity  was  satisfied  when  I  found  that  the 
Commissioners  appointed  by  Congress,  attended  by 
their  clerk  and  the  cashier  of  the  Sub-Treasury, 
were  paying  for  the  emancipated  slaves  of  the  Dis 
trict.  Think  of  it!  As  the  claimants  walked  up 
one  after  another  and  gave  their  names,  the  Com 
missioners'  clerk  looked  up  the  number  of  the 
claim  and  the  Sub-Treasury  cashier  produced  a 
check  which  bore  the  same  number.  Thereupon 
the  claimant  signed  a  receipt,  received  his  check, 
and  went  to  General  Spinner,  United  States  Trea 
surer,  where  he  signed  another  receipt,  and  the 
check,  being  duly  countersigned,  was  payable  at 
the  Sub-Treasury.  About  three  hundred  persons 
were  then  in  line  waiting  their  turn  for  payment. 
Three  or  four  days  were  required  to  settle  all  the 
claims  of  the  ex-slaveholders,  and  when  the  ac 
counts  were  eventually  balanced  it  was  found 
that  the  total  amount  of  money  paid  for  slaves 
purchased  in  the  District  of  Columbia  by  act  of 
Congress  was  considerably  within  the  sum  appro 
priated —  one  million  dollars.  It  should  be  said 
that  some  of  the  more  radical  Republican  mem 
bers  of  Congress  opposed  the  abolition  bill  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  wicked  to  pay  for  slaves,  thus 
recognizing  the  right  of  property  in  human  beings. 
Their  attitude  was  like  that  of  the  Prohibitionists 
of  the  present  day,  who  would  refuse  licenses  to 
liquor-dealers  on  a  somewhat  similar  principle. 
But  compensated  emancipation  was  at  that  time 
considered  by  most  sensible  people  as  the  easiest 


202  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

and  most  practicable  solution  of  the  great  impend 
ing  difficulty — the  abolition  of  slavery. 

COMPENSATED   EMANCIPATION 

MARYLAND  was  one  of  the  first  States  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  the  so-called  compensated  emancipation 
scheme.  Henry  Winter  Davis,  notwithstanding  his 
wrong-headed  and  self-willed  course,  was  a  con 
sistent  and  ardent  supporter  of  all  measures  that  had 
for  their  purpose  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  a  vig 
orous  prosecution  of  the  war.  He  supported  Lin 
coln  with  a  very  bad  grace  in  1864,  saying  that  he 
gave  him  his  vote  for  the  reason  that  the  worst  man 
whom  the  Union  party  could  put  up  was  far  better 
than  the  best  man  the  Democrats  could  nominate. 
As  a  stump  speaker  Henry  Winter  Davis  was  bril 
liant,  effective,  and  widely  popular ;  and  his  services 
in  the  emancipation  movement  in  Maryland  were 
above  all  value.  The  emancipation  party  carried 
that  State  in  1863,  electing  a  majority  of  the  leg 
islature;  and  in  January,  1864,  a  resolution  was 
adopted  by  the  legislature  declaring  that  the  true 
interests  of  Maryland  demanded  that  the  policy  of 
emancipation  should  be  immediately  inaugurated. 
That  legislature  called  for  a  convention  to  amend 
the  constitution  of  the  State  and  provide  for  eman 
cipation.  Henry  Winter  Davis,  and  other  friends  of 
the  good  cause,  took  the  field  with  such  vigor  that  a 
popular  majority  of  twelve  thousand  was  thrown  in 
favor  of  the  convention  ;  and  of  the  ninety-six  dele 
gates  chosen,  sixty-one  were  in  favor  of  emancipa 
tion.  The  new  constitution  was  finally  submitted 


WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  203 

to  a  vote  of  the  people  and  adopted  in  October,  1864, 
and  on  the  nineteenth  day  of  that  month  a  great 
crowd  of  Mary  landers  went  on  to  Washington  to 
congratulate  the  President  upon  the  final  entrance 
of  Maryland  into  the  column  of  free  States.  It  was 
a  beautiful,  bright  day,  and  with  music,  banners,  and 
cheers  the  loyal  Marylanders  made  the  welkin  ring 
with  their  jubilation.  The  President  came  out  in 
answer  to  their  calls  and  made  a  little  speech,  in 
which  he  congratulated  his  visitors,  their  State  and 
the  nation,  upon  the  great  event.  He  said  that  he 
regretted  that  emancipation  had  not  come  two  years 
sooner,  because  he  thought  that,  if  it  had,  it  would 
have  saved  the  nation  more  money  than  would  have 
met  all  the  private  losses  incident  to  emancipation 
under  the  present  order  of  things.  Later  on  in 
the  day  he  said  in  private  conversation :  "I  would 
rather  have  Maryland  upon  that  issue  than  have  a 
State  twice  its  size  upon  the  Presidential  issue.  It 
cleans  up  a  piece  of  ground."  Any  one  who  has 
ever  had  anything  to  do  with  cleaning  up  a  piece  of 
ground,  digging  out  the  roots  and  stumps,  as  Lincoln 
had,  can  appreciate  the  homely  simile  applied  to 
Maryland,  where  slavery  had  at  last  been  rooted  out. 

AMENDING   THE   CONSTITUTION 

BUT  of  course  the  great  act  in  the  war  drama  was 
the  final  passage  of  the  amendment  to  the  Consti 
tution  abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  Republic.  This  amendment  first 
passed  the  Senate,  April  8,  1864.  The  proposition 
was  debated  with  much  earnestness,  but  without 


204  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

much  heat.  Among  the  Democrats  who  voted  for 
it  were  Senators  from  Maryland,  Missouri,  "West 
Virginia,  Oregon,  and  California.  There  were  only 
six  votes  cast  against  the  measure.  These  were  from 
Grarrett  Davis  of  Kentucky,  Thomas  A.  Hendricks 
of  Indiana,  McDougall  of  California,  Powell  of  Ken 
tucky,  and  Riddle  and  Saulsbury  of  Delaware. 
There  was  a  faint  rumble  of  applause  when  the 
result  of  the  voting  was  announced,  but  no  such 
demonstration  as  was  made  when  the  House  finally 
passed  the  bill,  nearly  a  year  later — on  January  31, 
1865.  In  the  earlier  months  of  the  same  Congress, 
in  1864,  the  measure  had  failed  to  receive  the  two 
thirds  vote  of  the  House  necessary  for  its  passage ; 
and  Representative  Ashley,  of  Ohio,  who  had  then 
changed  his  vote  in  order  that  he  might  move  a  re 
consideration,  gave  notice  that  he  would  call  up  the 
Constitutional  amendment  on  January  6, 1865.  The 
debate  ran  on  fitfully  for  the  remainder  of  that 
month,  and  whenever  it  was  noised  abroad  that  the 
Constitutional  amendment  to  abolish  slavery  would 
come  up  in  the  House,  the  galleries  were  thronged  to 
overflowing,  and  the  speeches  were  listened  to  with 
great  intentness.  But  to  the  very  last  day  it  was 
feared  that  the  necessary  two  thirds  vote  could  not 
be  obtained.  Although  West  Virginia,  Missouri, 
Arkansas,  Maryland,  and  Louisiana  had  by  that  time 
accepted  the  situation,  and  had  adopted  measures 
looking  to  the  immediate  emancipation  of  slaves, 
there  were  not  a  few  men  in  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives  who  opposed  the  Constitutional  amendment. 
William  S.  Holman  and  George  H.  Pendleton,  from 
the  Northern  States,  were  among  those  who  voted 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  205 

against  it.  It  should  be  recalled  that  the  House  on 
the  previous  occasion,  when  it  failed  to  pass,  June 
15,  1864,  gave  the  amendment  ninety-five  ayes  to 
sixty-six  noes,  a  two  thirds  vote  being  necessary ; 
and  when  the  measure  came  up  for  final  passage 
on  January  31,  anxiety  and  expectation  sat  on 
every  countenance.  But  on  the  floor  of  the  House, 
where  the  friends  of  liberty  and  freedom  were  cir 
culating  tally-lists  which  they  had  prepared  for 
their  own  private  information,  there  was  a  general 
air  of  cheerfulness  and  confidence.  The  galleries, 
corridors,  and  lobbies  were  crowded  to  the  doors, 
and  the  reporters'  gallery  was  invaded  by  a  mob 
of  well-dressed  women,  who  for  a  time  usurped  the 
place  of  the  newspaper  men;  and  these,  consid 
ering  the  importance  of  the  proceedings  and  the 
gravity  of  the  impending  event,  surrendered  their 
seats  with  good  grace.  On  the  floor  of  the  House 
were  Chief  Justice  Chase  and  the  Associate  Just 
ices  Swayne,  Miller,  Nelson,  and  Field,  Secretary 
Fessenden,  Postmaster-General  Dennison,  senators 
by  the  dozen,  the  electoral  messengers  from  Ore 
gon,  Nevada,  and  California,  ex-Postrnaster-General 
Montgomery  Blair,  and  hosts  of  other  prominent 
persons. 

When  the  hour  for  taking  the  vote  approached, 
Archibald  McAllister,  a  Pennsylvania  Peace  Dem 
ocrat,  astonished  everybody  by  sending  up  to  the 
clerk's  desk  a  note  in  which  he  said  that  as  all 
peace  negotiations  and  missions  had  failed,  he  was 
satisfied  that  nothing  short  of  their  independence 
would  satisfy  the  Southern  Confederates,  and  he 
therefore  determined  to  cast  his  vote  against  the 


206  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN^   TIME 

corner-stone  of  the  Southern  Confederacy — slavery. 
Several  other  Democrats  and  Border  State  men, 
who  had  heretofore  withheld  their  support  of  the 
Constitutional  amendment,  also  came  in  with  brief 
explanations  of  the  vote  which  they  now  proposed 
to  cast  in  the  affirmative.  The  supreme  moment 
finally  arrived,  Speaker  Colfax's  ringing  voice  de 
manded  of  the  House  "  Shall  the  Joint  Resolution 
pass  ? "  The  roll-call  proceeded,  and  as  the  clerk's 
call  went  slowly  down  the  list,  knots  of  members 
gathered  around  their  fellows  who  were  keeping 
tally;  and  a  group  of  Copperheads  hung  around 
Pendleton,  looking  gloomy,  black,  and  sour.  Occa 
sionally,  when  a  member  whose  opposition  to  the 
amendment  had  been  notable  voted  "  aye,"  a  clatter 
of  applause,  irrepressible  and  spontaneous,  swept 
through  the  House.  When  the  name  of  John  Gan- 
son,  a  New  York  Peace  Democrat,  gave  back  an 
echo  of  "  aye,"  much  to  the  surprise  of  everybody, 
there  was  a  great  burst  of  enthusiasm;  for  this 
marked  the  safety  of  the  amendment.  On  the  final 
vote  there  were  one  hundred  and  nineteen  in  the 
affirmative,  fiftjT-six  in  the  negative,  and  eight  ab 
sentees. 

When  the  roll-call  was  concluded,  Speaker  Col- 
fax  exercised  his  prerogative  and  asked  the  clerk  to 
call  his  name,  whereupon  his  voice  rang  out  with 
an  "  aye ".  Then,  the  record  being  made  up,  the 
Speaker,  his  voice  trembling,  said :  "On  the  passage 
of  the  Joint  Resolution  to  amend  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  the  ayes  have  one  hundred 
and  nineteen,  the  noes  fifty-six.  The  constitutional 
majority  of  two  thirds  having  voted  in  the  affirm- 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  207 

ative,  the  Joint  Eesolution  has  passed."  For  a  mo 
ment  there  was  a  pause  of  utter  silence,  as  if  the 
voices  of  the  dense  mass  of  spectators  were  choked 
by  strong  emotion.  Then  there  was  an  explosion, 
a  storm  of  cheers,  the  like  of  which  probably  no 
Congress  of  the  United  States  ever  heard  before. 
Strong  men  embraced  each  other  with  tears.  The 
galleries  and  aisles  were  bristling  with  standing, 
cheering  crowds.  The  air  was  stirred  with  a  cloud 
of  women's  handkerchiefs  waving  and  floating; 
hands  were  shaking;  men  threw  their  arms  about 
each  other's  necks,  and  cheer  after  cheer,  and  burst 
after  burst  followed.  Full  ten  minutes  elapsed 
before  silence  returned  sufficient  to  enable  Ebon 
C.  Ingersoll,  of  Illinois,  to  move  an  adjournment 
"in  honor  of  the  sublime  and  immortal  event,"  upon 
which  B.  C.  Harris,  the  deeply  censured  Mary- 
lander,  shaking  with  wrath,  arose  and  demanded  the 
ayes  and  noes  on  the  motion.  This  little  artifice  to 
procure  delay  did  not  amount  to  much,  for,  as  the 
roll-call  began,  members  answered  to  their  names 
and  passed  out,  most  of  the  defeated  Copperheads 
taking  their  hats  and  stealing  away  before  their 
names  were  reached.  As  the  roll-call  went  on 
amidst  great  confusion  (for  there  was  no  longer 
any  pretense  of  maintaining  order),  the  air  was 
rent  by  the  thunder  of  a  great  salute  fired  on  Capi 
tol  Hill,  to  notify  all  who  heard  that  slavery  was  no 
more. 

Every  Republican  member  of  the  House  voted 
for  the  final  passage  of  the  amendment:  not  one 
of  them  was  absent  when  the  vote  was  taken.  Of 
the  119  members  who  finally  voted  for  the  amend- 


208  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

ment,  11  were  Democrats ;  their  votes  were  neces 
sary  to  secure  the  constitutional  two  thirds.  These 
men  were  James  E.  English,  of  Connecticut ;  Anson 
Herrick,  William  Radford,  Homer  A.  Nelson,  John 
B.  Steele,  and  John  Granson,  of  New  York ;  A.  H. 
Coffroth  and  Archibald  McAllister,  of  Pennsylva 
nia  ;  Wells  A.  Hut  chins,  of  Ohio ;  and  Augustus  C. 
Baldwin,  of  Michigan.  There  were  eight  Democrats 
absent  when  the  vote  was  taken ;  these  were  Jesse 
Lazear,  of  Pennsylvania ;  John  F.  McKinney  and 
Francis  C.  LeBlond,  of  Ohio ;  Daniel  W.  Voorhees 
and  James  F.  McDowell,  of  Indiana;  George 
Middleton  and  A.  J.  Rogers,  of  New  Jersey;  and 
Daniel  Marcy,  of  New  Hampshire.  It  is  fair  to 
assume  that  these  absentees  were  not  unwilling 
that  the  amendment  abolishing  slavery  should 
prevail,  but  were  not  willing  to  give  it  their  ac 
tive  support. 

At  that  time  there  were  seven  Territories  repre 
sented  by  delegates  in  Congress.  These  were  Colo 
rado,  Utah,  Nebraska,  Arizona,  Dakota,  Idaho,  and 
New  Mexico.  The  delegates  of  these  Territories, 
not  having  the  right  to  vote  on  any  measure  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  were  granted  leave  to 
enter  upon  the  Journal  of  the  House  a  paper  in 
which  they  expressed  their  deep  interest  in  the 
proposition  to  amend  the  Federal  Constitution,  for 
ever  abolishing  slavery,  and  declared  their  unqual 
ified  approbation  of  the  same. 

The  Joint  Resolution  to  amend  the  Constitution, 
and  thus  provide  for  the  perpetual  abolition  of 
slavery,  being  an  accomplished  fact  so  far  as  the 
action  of  Congress  was  concerned,  the  consent  of 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  209 

the  States  was  now  necessary.  It  will  be  remem 
bered  that  in  the  so-called  Wade-Davis  bill  provi 
sion  had  been  made  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  by 
requiring  that  each  reconstructed  State,  as  it  took 
its  place  in  returning  to  the  Union,  should  adopt  a 
Constitution  forever  prohibiting  slavery  within  its 
borders.  This  feature  of  the  measure  commended 
it  to  all  friends  of  human  freedom.  Very  many 
who  did  not  pause  to  consider  the  effect  of  what 
Mr.  Lincoln  called  "  this  bed  of  Procrustes  "  were 
taken  by  the  proposition  that  slavery  would  be 
abolished,  provided  the  measure  should  receive  the 
favorable  action  of  the  reconstructed  States ;  and 
in  their  manifesto  the  authors  of  the  bill  laid  great 
stress  upon  that  clause  of  their  elaborate  scheme ; 
and  they  asked,  with  fine  sarcasm,  how  President 
Lincoln  could  possibly  expect  slavery  could  be 
abolished  when  the  House  had  already  refused  the 
necessary  two  thirds  vote  required  by  the  Consti 
tution.  At  that  time,  it  will  be  remembered,  the 
House  had  taken  its  first  and  undecisive  action  on 
the  bill,  in  June,  1864.  Now  that  the  amendment, 
however,  having  safely  passed  the  ordeal  of  both 
branches  of  Congress,  was  to  go  to  the  States 
for  ratification,  the  final  act  giving  vitality  to  the 
amendment  was  merely  a  matter  of  time.  Two 
States,  Rhode  Island  and  Michigan,  led  the  col 
umn,  their  legislatures  having  ratified  the  amend 
ment  February  2,  1865 ;  but  it  was  not  until  after 
Lincoln's  death  that  the  necessary  three  fourths  of 
the  thirty-six  States  of  the  Union  had  ratified  the 
amendment  so  that  it  became  valid  as  a  part  of 
the  Constitution.  Official  proclamation  of  that 


210  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

consummation  was  finally  made  by  Secretary  Sew- 
ard,  then  in  Johnson's  cabinet,  December  18,  1865. 

Before  the  adoption  of  the  Thirteenth  Amend 
ment,  slavery  was  possible  within  the  limits  of  any 
State,  at  the  will  of  a  majority  of  the  voters  of 
such  State ;  or,  slavery  could  be  abolished  in  any 
State  in  like  manner.  Now,  slavery  was  forever 
prohibited  within  the  United  States  by  the  author 
ity  of  the  nation.  And  as  the  amended  Constitu 
tion  declared  that  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  legislation," 
the  power  of  the  States  to  meddle  with  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery  was  forever  taken  away.  In  Sep 
tember,  1859,  Lincoln  compressed  into  a  single 
brief  sentence  the  gist  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision 
thus :  "  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  for 
bids  Congress  to  deprive  a  man  of  his  property 
without  due  process  of  law.  The  right  of  property 
in  slaves  is  distinctly  affirmed  in  the  Constitution : 
therefore,  if  Congress  shall  undertake  to  say  that  a 
man's  slave  is  no  longer  his  when  he  crosses  a  cer 
tain  line  into  a  Territory,  that  is  depriving  him 
of  his  property  without  due  process  of  law."  The 
Thirteenth  Amendment,  proposed  by  Congress  and 
adopted  by  the  States,  drew  the  fangs  of  the  mon 
ster  which  Taney,  and  those  who  believed  with  him, 
had  insisted  was  sleeping  in  the  Constitution — the 
right  of  property  in  slaves. 

One  of  the  curiosities  of  the  time  was  the  anx 
iety  of  every  member  who  voted  for  the  amend 
ment,  and  many  others  who  were  not  members  of 
Congress,  to  procure  officially  enrolled  copies  of  the 
historic  act  as  it  had  passed  both  branches  of  Con- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  211 

gress.  It  became  one  of  the  industries  of  the  clerks 
of  the  House  and  Senate  to  engross  on  a  sheet  of 
parchment  the  few  brief  and  pregnant  sentences 
of  the  amendment,  and  procure  thereto  the  auto 
graph  signatures  of  the  senators  and  representa 
tives  who  voted  for  it,  and  also  the  autographs  of 
the  President  and  Secretary  of  the  Senate,  the 
Speaker  and  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
Secretary  of  State.  So  far  as  I  know,  hundreds  of 
such  parchments,  bearing  the  signatures  of  these 
now  historic  personages,  were  in  existence  when 
Congress  adjourned  in  March,  1865.  It  has  always 
been  the  custom  for  pages  and  others  about  the 
House  and  Senate  to  procure  the  autographs  of 
members.  These,  arranged  in  albums,  have  finally 
come  to  be  regarded  as  an  article  of  commerce; 
but  the  signing  of  the  names  of  the  senators  and 
representatives,  and  other  high  officials  responsi 
ble  for  the  enactment  of  the  Thirteenth  Amend 
ment,  was  certainly  done  with  more  cheerfulness 
than  any  similar  exercise  of  that  semi-public  func 
tion.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  signature  of  the 
President  was  not  necessary  to  give  effect  to  the 
action  of  Congress  in  passing  the  amendment.  In 
advertently,  however,  the  Joint  Eesolution  was 
laid  before  the  President  on  the  day  of  its  passage 
by  the  House,  and  he  signed  it  in  due  course  of 
business.  Subsequently,  however,  the  Senate,  at 
the  instance  of  Senator  Lyman  Trumbull,  who  was 
a  gifted  hair-splitter,  adopted  a  resolution  that  such 
approval  by  the  President  was  unnecessary  to  give 
effect  to  the  action  of  Congress ;  and  it  was  then 


212  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

declared  that  the  negative  of  the  President  applied 
only  to  the  ordinary  cases  of  legislation,  and  that 
he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  proposition  or  the 
adoption  of  amendments  to  the  Constitution.  Nev 
ertheless,  the  attaching  of  the  President's  signature 
to  the  Thirteenth  Amendment  did  establish  for 
him  a  precedent  which  thereafter  required  him  to 
sign  his  name  to  the  hundreds  of  facsimiles  of  the 
document  which  set  forth  the  momentous  fact  that 
Congress  had  on  the  31st  day  of  January,  1865, 
formally  abolished  slavery  throughout  the  United 
States ;  and  he  was  deeply  gratified  that  his  name 
was  officially  connected  with  that  act. 

"COLORED  PERSONS  MAY  RIDE  IN  THIS  CAR." 

ANOTHER  sign  of  the  times  (though  far  less  impor 
tant  in  its  way)  that  showed  that  the  world  still 
moves,  and  slavery  is  an  anachronism,  was  the  grad 
ual  emancipation  of  the  colored  people  of  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia  from  the  ban  under  which  they 
had  always  lived.  The  introduction  of  street  rail 
ways  into  the  National  Capital  was  in  itself  an  in 
novation.  The  fine  old  aristocrats  of  the  ancien 
regime  looked  upon  these  vehicles  with  great  dis 
favor.  They  soon  discovered  that  the  "c'yar  box",  as 
they  called  the  street-car,  would  not  come  up  to  the 
sidewalk  at  the  wave  of  a  parasol  or  the  beckoning 
of  a  hand,  as  had  been  the  servile  habit  of  the  omni 
buses,  formerly  the  principal  means  of  public  con 
veyance  in  Washington  streets.  And  it  was  a  long 
time  before  these  dignified  sticklers  for  old  man 
ners  and  customs  permitted  themselves  to  enter  the 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  213 

queer  "Yankee  contrivance"  so  lately  introduced. 
Negroes  had  been  permitted  in  ancient  times  to  ride 
on  the  roof  of  the  omnibus,  and  when  the  street 
cars  began  their  slow  progress  on  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  colored  people  were  graciously  allowed  to 
face  the  dust,  or  the  snow,  sleet,  and  rain  of  the 
variable  climate,  in  company  with  the  driver  on 
the  front  platform ;  but  when  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  became  inevitable,  and  free 
negroes  from  the  disordered  States  adjacent  began 
to  flock  into  Washington,  these  narrow  accommo 
dations  were  soon  found  insufficient.  Under  no 
pretext  whatever  was  a  colored  person,  however 
well  dressed,  however  cleanly,  permitted  inside  of 
one  of  the  "c'yar  boxes"  sacred  to  the  Caucasian 
race.  Protests  against  their  exclusion  found  their 
way  into  the  newspapers,  and  the  street-car  com 
pany,  in  deference  to  a  popular  demand  of  increas 
ing  loudness,  added  one  or  two  antique  cars,  which 
bore  upon  the  roof  in  big  letters  this  concession : 
"Colored  Persons  May  Ride  In  This  Car."  The 
poor  outcasts  who  had  been  denied  the  luxury  of  a 
seat,  although  they  paid  their  full  fare  just  as  cheer 
fully  as  white  people,  now  had  an  opportunity  of 
riding  inside  of  a  car  once  in  an  hour ;  and  occa 
sionally  a  white  person  of  bitter  prejudices  would 
stray  ignorantly  into  one  of  the  vehicles  conceded 
to  the  colored  race,  and  would  indignantly  demand 
of  the  conductor  the  expulsion  of  every  person  but 
himself,  much  to  his  own  subsequent  discomfiture. 
Before  the  introduction  of  the  so-called  "colored 
cars"  I  saw  a  handsomely  dressed  and  lady-like 
woman  sent  out  on  the  front  platform  by  a  con- 


14* 


214  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

ductor,  whose  practised  eye  detected  Ethiopian  tra 
ces  in  her  white  face  and  straight  hair,  although  a 
person  less  expert  in  ethnology  conld  not  possibly 
have  discerned  them.  When  the  lady  had  made 
her  exit,  which  she  did  with  a  quick  blush  man 
tling  her  beautiful  face,  the  conductor  angrily  said 
that  it  was  just  as  likely  as  not  that  of  a  dark  even 
ing  the  woman  had  ridden  back  and  forth  in  the 
cars  and  "  nobody  had  known  nothin'  of  it."  When 
somebody  asked,  "Well,  what  of  that?"  the  amazed 
Caucasian  conductor  was  incapable  of  reply. 

As  the  street-car  company  was  a  creature  of  Con 
gress,  and  Congress  was  at  that  time  busily  engaged 
in  considering  how  all  traces  of  slavery  should  be 
eradicated,  petitions  began  to  flow  in,  and  indig 
nant  lovers  of  freedom  occasionally  raised  a  racket 
in  the  Senate  or  House  over  the  long-continued 
proscription  of  the  colored  people.  Finally  the 
crisis  came  when  Dr.  A.  T.  Augusta,  a  colored  sur 
geon,  of  the  Seventh  United  States  Colored  Troops, 
dressed  in  the  full  uniform  of  a  major,  was  expelled 
from  a  street-car  under  peculiarly  exasperating  cir 
cumstances.  He  was  on  his  way  to  a  court-martial, 
where  he  was  an  important  witness,  and,  being  com 
pelled  to  get  out  into  the  rain  and  slush  of  a  Febru 
ary  day,  was  a  long  time  delayed  in  reaching  the 
court.  He  had  been  told  by  the  conductor  that  he 
could  ride  on  the  front  platform,  where  the  rain 
was  driving  in  sheets,  but  he  explained  that  unless 
he  could  ride  in  the  car,  he  would  not  ride  at  all. 
He  was  therefore  compelled  to  walk  a  long  dis 
tance  in  mud  and  rain,  and  when  he  reached  the 
court  he  addressed  to  the  Judge- Advocate  a  com- 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  215 

raunication,  giving  the  reason  of  his  failure  to 
report  when  ordered.  In  due  course  of  time  this 
incident  came  before  the  Senate,  and  a  resolution 
was  passed  inquiring  into  the  right  of  the  street 
car  company  to  set  up  a  rule  by  which  colored 
people  were  excluded  from  any  of  their  vehicles. 
The  company  very  soon  found  that  their  charter 
contemplated  no  such  discrimination  against  any 
person,  and  after  a  while  the  concessionary  sign  on 
the  tops  of  the  few  "  colored  cars  "  disappeared,  and 
this  invidious  distinction  was  heard  of  no  more. 
If  there  was  any  real  invasion  of  the  rights  of  white 
people  which  unpleasantly  affected  the  superior 
race  at  that  time,  it  was  never  made  manifest ;  but 
it  is  singular  that  such  men  as  Buckalew  of  Penn 
sylvania,  Hendricks  of  Indiana,  Nesmith  of  Oregon, 
Richardson  of  Illinois,  and  a  few  other  Northern 
men  with  fixed  principles  of  hostility  to  the  "  un 
bleached  Americans,"  persistently  opposed  the  reso 
lution  to  inquire  into  the  facts  concerning  the  ex 
clusion  of  colored  people  from  the  street-cars. 


CHAPTER  VII 
LINCOLN'S  REELECTION 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  LINCOLN'S  SECOND  TEEM  —  THE 
PRESIDENT'S  SHREWDNESS  AT  HAMPTON  ROADS  — 
LINCOLN'S  SECOND  INAUGURATION 

THE  day  of  the  presidential  election  in  Novem 
ber,  1864,  was  dark  and  rainy.  About  noon  I 
called  on  President  Lincoln,  and  to  my  surprise 
found  him  entirely  alone,  as  if  by  common  consent 
everybody  had  avoided  the  White  House.  It  was 
"  cabinet  day,"  and  at  the  meeting,  which  had  been 
held  earlier,  only  two  members  of  the  cabinet  were 
present.  Stanton  was  at  his  home,  sick  with  chills 
and  fever;  Seward,  Usher,  and  Dennison  had  re 
turned  to  their  own  States  to  vote ;  and  Fessenderi 
was  closeted  with  New  York  financiers  in  confer 
ence  over  ways  and  means  to  place  a  new  loan. 
So  Secretary  Welles  and  Attorney-General  Bates 
were  left  to  "run  the  machine,"  and  very  little 
time  had  been  occupied  by  them  in  their  session 
with  the  President.  Lincoln  took  no  pains  to  con 
ceal  his  anxious  interest  in  the  result  of  the  election 
then  going  on  all  over  the  country,  and  said :  "  I 
am  just  enough  of  a  politician  to  know  that  there 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  217 

was  not  much  doubt  about  the  result  of  the  Balti 
more  convention ;  but  about  this  thing  I  am  very 
far  from  being  certain.  I  wish  I  were  certain."  I 
spent  nearly  all  the  afternoon  with  the  President, 
who  apparently  found  it  difficult  to  put  his  mind 
on  any  of  the  routine  work  of  his  office,  and  en 
treated  me  to  stay  with  him.  In  the  course  of  the 
afternoon  he  told  an  amusing  story  about  a  pet 
turkey  of  his  boy  "Tad."  It  appears  that  Jack, 
the  turkey,  whose  life  had  been  spared  the  year  be 
fore  at  Tad's  earnest  request,  had  mingled  with 
the  "Bucktail"  soldiers  from  Pennsylvania,  quar 
tered  in  the  grounds  on  the  river  front  of  the  White 
House.  The  soldiers  were  voting  under  the  direc 
tion  of  a  commission  sent  on  from  their  State,  as 
was  the  custom  in  several  States  of  the  Union,  and 
Tad,  bursting  into  his  father's  office,  had  besought 
the  President  to  come  to  the  window  and  see  the 
soldiers  who  were  "  voting  for  Lincoln  and  John 
son."  Noticing  the  turkey  regarding  the  proceed 
ings  with  evident  interest,  Lincoln  asked  the  lad 
what  business  the  turkey  had  stalking  about  the 
polls  in  that  way.  "Does  he  vote?"  "No,"  was 
the  quick  reply  of  the  boy ;  "  he  is  not  of  age." 
The  good  President  dearly  loved  the  boy,  and  for 
days  thereafter  he  took  pride  in  relating  this  anec 
dote  illustrative  of  Tad's  quick-wittedness. 

Late  in  the  evening  I  returned  to  the  White 
House,  and  found  that  the  only  returns  then  re 
ceived  were  from  Indiana,  which  showed  that  a 
gain  of  1500  had  been  made  in  Indianapolis  for  the 
Republican  ticket.  Later  on  we  went  over  to  the 
War  Department,  and  there  heard  good  news  from 


218  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

Baltimore,  that  city  having  sent  in  a  majority  of 
more  than  10,000.  Other  reports  soon  came  in,  but 
not  very  rapidly,  as  a  rain-storm  had  interfered 
with  the  transmission  of  news  over  the  telegraph 
wires.  There  was  a  long  lull  about  ten  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  during  which  the  President  amused 
the  little  company  in  the  War  Office  with  enter 
taining  reminiscences  and  anecdotes  naturally  sug 
gested  by  the  political  intelligence  that  dropped  in 
from  time  to  time.  For  instance,  when  New  Jer 
sey  broke  the  calm  by  announcing  a  gain  of  one 
congressman  for  the  Union,  but  with  a  fair  pros 
pect  of  the  State  going  for  McClellan,  Lincoln  had 
an  amusing  story  to  tell  about  that  particular  con 
gressman,  Dr.  Newell,  who  had  long  been  a  family 
friend  of  the  Lincolns.  A  despatch  from  New  York 
city,  claiming  the  State  by  10,000,  was  received  by 
the  chief  magistrate  with  much  incredulity ;  and 
when  Greeley  telegraphed  that  the  State  would 
probably  give  4000  majority  for  Lincoln,  he  said 
that  that  was  much  more  reasonable  than  the  ab 
surd  statement  of  a  bigger  majority.  By  midnight 
Pennsylvania,  the  New  England  States,  Maryland, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  were  toler 
ably  certain  for  Lincoln;  but  the  President  was 
greatly  disappointed  that  neither  Illinois  nor  Iowa 
was  heard  from.  The  wires  continued  to  work 
badly  on  account  of  the  long  storm,  and  it  was  not 
until  two  days  later  that  satisfactory  returns  were 
had  from  Illinois  or  from  any  of  the  States  beyond 
the  Mississippi. 

About  midnight  of  the  day  of  the  election  it  was 
certain  that  Lincoln  had  been  reflected,  and  the 


WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  219 

few  gentlemen  left  in  the  office  congratulated  him 
very  warmly  on  the  result.  Lincoln  took  the  mat 
ter  very  calmly,  showing  not  the  least  elation  or  ex 
citement,  but  said  that  he  would  admit  that  he  was 
glad  to  be  relieved  of  all  suspense,  and  that  he  was 
grateful  that  the  verdict  of  the  people  was  likely  to 
be  so  full,  clear,  and  unmistakable  that  there  could 
be  no  dispute.  About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning 
a  messenger  came  over  from  the  White  House  with 
the  news  that  a  crowd  of  Pennsylvanians  were  ser 
enading  his  empty  chamber,  whereupon  he  went 
home ;  and,  in  answer  to  repeated  calls,  he  made  a 
happy  little  speech  full  of  good  feeling  and  cheer 
fulness.  He  wound  up  his  remarks  by  saying,  "  If 
I  know  my  heart,  my  gratitude  is  free  from  any 
taint  of  personal  triumph.  I  do  not  impugn  the 
motives  of  any  one  opposed  to  me.  It  is  no  plea 
sure  to  me  to  triumph  over  any  one,  but  I  give 
thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  this  evidence  of  the 
people's  resolution  to  stand  by  free  government 
and  the  rights  of  humanity." 

Next  day,  in  private  conversation,  he  said :  "  Be 
ing  only  mortal,  after  all,  I  should  have  been  a 
little  mortified  if  I  had  been  beaten  in  this  can 
vass  before  the  people ;  but  the  sting  would  have 
been  more  than  compensated  by  the  thought  that 
the  people  had  notified  me  that  my  official  respon 
sibilities  were  soon  to  be  lifted  off  my  back."  Dr. 
A.  Gr.  Henry  of  Washington  Territory,  whose  name 
has  frequently  been  mentioned  in  these  papers  as 
an  old  friend  of  the  President,  had  been  promised 
that  he  should  receive  a  despatch  from  Mr.  Lincoln 
when  the  result  of  the  presidential  election  of  that 


220  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

year  should  be  definitely  ascertained.  Accordingly, 
on  this  day,  which  was  November  9,  President  Lin 
coln  dictated  a  despatch,  the  terms  of  which  were 
as  follows :  "  With  returns  and  States  of  which  we 
are  confident,  the  reelection  of  the  President  is  con 
sidered  certain,  while  it  is  not  certain  that  McClel- 
lan  has  carried  any  State,  though  the  chances  are 
that  he  has  carried  New  Jersey  and  Kentucky." 
When  I  had  written  the  despatch  at  the  President's 
dictation,  I  passed  it  to  him  for  his  signature ;  but 
he  declined  to  "  blow  his  own  horn,"  as  he  expressed 
it,  and  said :  "  You  sign  the  message,  and  I  will  send 
it."  A  day  or  two  later,  when  Delaware,  whose  vote 
had  been  uncertain,  declared  for  McClellan,  Lincoln 
sent  a  second  despatch  in  order  to  give  his  friend 
on  the  far-off  Pacific  coast  a  clear  and  exact  idea 
of  what  had  happened,  explaining  that  he  took  it 
for  granted  that  Dr.  Henry  would  hear  all  the  news, 
but  might  think  it  odd  that  the  President  should 
leave  him  without  clearing  up  the  situation  thus 
left  somewhat  undecided  in  the  uncertainties  of  the 
election  returns. 

On  the  day  mentioned,  Lincoln  narrated  an  in 
cident  the  particulars  of  which  I  wrote  out  and 
printed  directly  after.  These  are  his  own  words, 
as  nearly  as  they  could  then  be  recalled :  "  It  was 
just  after  my  election  in  1860,  when  the  news  had 
been  coming  in  thick  and  fast  all  day  and  there 
had  been  a  great  i  hurrah,  boys,'  so  that  I  was  well 
tired  out,  and  went  home  to  rest,  throwing  myself 
down  on  a  lounge  in  my  chamber.  Opposite  where 
I  lay  was  a  bureau  with  a  swinging  glass  upon  it " 
(and  here  he  got  up  and  placed  furniture  to  illus- 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  221 

trate  the  position),  "  and  looking  in  that  glass  I 
saw  myself  reflected  nearly  at  full  length ;  but  ray 
face,  I  noticed,  had  two  separate  and  distinct  im 
ages,  the  tip  of  the  nose  of  one  being  about  three 
inches  from  the  tip  of  the  other.  I  was  a  little 
bothered,  perhaps  startled,  and  got  up  and  looked 
in  the  glass,  but  the  illusion  vanished.  On  lying 
down  again,  I  saw  it  a  second  time,  plainer,  if  pos 
sible,  than  before ;  and  then  I  noticed  that  one  of 
the  faces  was  a  little  paler — say  five  shades — than 
the  other.  I  got  up,  and  the  thing  melted  away, 
and  I  went  off,  and  in  the  excitement  of  the  hour 
forgot  all  about  it  —  nearly,  but  not  quite,  for  the 
thing  would  once  in  a  while  come  up,  and  give  me 
a  little  pang  as  if  something  uncomfortable  had  hap 
pened.  When  I  went  home  again  that  night  I  told 
my  wife  about  it,  and  a  few  days  afterward  I  made 
the  experiment  again,  when  "  (with  a  laugh),  "  sure 
enough !  the  thing  came  again ;  but  I  never  suc 
ceeded  in  bringing  the  ghost  back  after  that,  though 
I  once  tried  very  industriously  to  show  it  to  my 
wife,  who  was  somewhat  worried  about  it.  She 
thought  it  was  a  '  sign '  that  I  was  to  be  elected  to 
a  second  term  of  office,  and  that  the  paleness  of  one 
of  the  faces  was  an  omen  that  I  should  not  see  life 
through  the  last  term."  This  is  a  very  remarkable 
story — a  coincidence,  we  may  say,  to  which  some 
significance  was  given  by  the  cruel  death  of  the 
President  soon  after  the  beginning  of  his  second 
term.  I  told  Mrs.  Lincoln  the  story,  and  asked  her 
if  she  remembered  its  details.  She  expressed  sur 
prise  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  willing  to  say  anything 
about  it,  as  he  had  up  to  that  time  refrained  from 


222  WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

mentioning  the  incident  to  anybody;  and  as  she 
was  firm  in  her  belief  that  the  optical  illusion 
(which  it  certainly  was)  was  a  warning,  I  never 
again  referred  to  the  subject  to  either  the  Presi 
dent  or  his  wife.  Subsequently,  Lincoln's  version 
of  the  story  was  confirmed  by  Private  Secretary 
John  Hay,  who,  however,  was  of  the  opinion  that 
the  illusion  had  been  seen  on  the  day  of  Lincoln's 
first  nomination,  and  not,  as  I  have  said,  on  the 
day  of  his  first  election.  Commenting  on  the  re 
sult  of  the  election  of  the  day  before,  Lincoln  said, 
with  great  solemnity :  "I  should  be  the  veriest 
shallow  and  self-conceited  blockhead  upon  the 
footstool,  if  in  my  discharge  of  the  duties  that  are 
put  upon  me  in  this  place,  I  should  hope  to  get 
along  without  the  wisdom  that  comes  from  God, 
and  not  from  men." 

On  the  night  of  November  10  an  impromptu  pro 
cession,  gay  with  banners  and  resplendent  with  lan 
terns  and  transparencies,  marched  up  to  the  White 
House,  and  a  vast  crowd  surged  around  the  main 
entrance,  filling  the  entire  space  within  the  grounds 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  from  the  house.  Mar 
tial  music,  the  cheers  of  people,  and  the  roar  of 
cannon,  shook  the  sky.  Tad,  who  was  flying  around 
from  window  to  window  arranging  a  small  illumi 
nation  on  his  own  private  account,  was  delighted 
and  excited  by  the  occasional  shivering  of  the  large 
panes  of  glass  by  the  concussion  of  the  air  pro 
duced  when  the  cannon  in  the  driveway  went  off 
with  tremendous  noise.  The  President  wrote  out 
his  little  speech,  and  his  appearance  at  "  the  historic 
window  "  over  the  doorway  in  the  portico  was  the 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  223 

signal  for  the  maddest  cheers  from  the  crowd,  and 
it  was  many  minutes  before  the  deafening  racket 
permitted  him  to  speak.  The  same  procession 
marched  around  to  the  houses  of  some  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  cabinet,  among  others  to  that  of  Secre 
tary  Seward,  who  had  returned  from  his  visit  to 
New  York. 

The  Secretary  of  State  was  in  an  exceedingly 
jocose  frame  of  mind,  and  after  congratulating  the 
crowd  on  the  result  of  the  election,  made  a  funny 
speech  substantially  as  follows :  "  I  advise  you  to 
go  and  see  Mr.  Fessenden,  for  if  he  gets  discou 
raged  we  shall  all  come  to  grief;  also  be  good 
enough  to  poke  up  Mr.  Stanton ;  he  needs  poking 
up,  for  he  has  been  seriously  sick,  I  hear,  for  sev 
eral  days  past.  You  cannot  do  better  also  than 
to  call  upon  my  excellent  friend  Gideon  Welles, 
and  ask  him  if  he  cannot  make  the  blockade  off 
Wilmington  more  stringent,  so  that  I  shall  not  need 
to  have  so  much  trouble  with  my  foreign  relations." 
To  say  that  the  crowd  was  delighted  with  this  com 
ical  little  speech  is  faintly  to  describe  the  frame  of 
mind  in  which  the  Secretary's  jocose  remarks  were 
received. 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  SHREWDNESS  AT  HAMPTON  ROADS 

GREAT  was  the  excitement  in  Washington  when, 
at  the  close  of  the  next  January  (1865),  it  was  noised 
abroad  that  negotiations  looking  for  peace  were  to 
be  opened  between  the  Federal  administration  and 
the  rebel  president.  Francis  P.  Blair,  Sr.,  had  re 
turned  from  the  second  of  his  fruitless  missions  to 


224  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

Bichmond,  bringing  to  the  President  the  informa 
tion  that  Jefferson  Davis  was  u  ready  to  enter  into 
conference  with  a  view  to  secure  peace  to  the  two 
countries."  The  general  tenor  of  Blair's  verbal  ac 
count  of  what  he  saw  and  heard  in  Bichmond,  more 
than  anything  else,  perhaps,  encouraged  Mr.  Lin 
coln  in  the  belief  that  peace  might  be  obtained  by 
negotiation,  and  the  Union  be  restored  upon  terms 
which  would  be  acceptable  to  the  country.  I  say 
"  perhaps,"  because  there  is  probably  no  living  man 
who  knew  exactly  what  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  opinion 
concerning  the  possibility  of  securing  terms  of  peace 
at  that  time  on  any  basis  that  would  be  acceptable 
to  himself  and  to  the  whole  country.  But  in  any 
case  we  may  be  sure  that  he  determined  to  exhaust 
all  the  means  within  his  reach  to  satisfy  the  coun 
try  whether  peace  with  honor  could  or  could  not 
be  obtained  by  negotiation.  My  own  belief  then 
(which  was  strengthened  by  one  or  two  conversa 
tions  with  Mr.  Lincoln)  was  that  after  the  failure 
of  the  Niagara  Falls  conference  in  July,  1864,  he 
had  no  faith  whatever  in  any  proposition  pretend 
ing  to  look  in  the  direction  of  peace  which  might 
come  from  the  Confederate  authorities. 

But  when  it  was  found  that  not  only  had  Secre 
tary  Seward  gone  to  Hampton  Boads  to  meet  the 
so-called  rebel  commissioners,  Stephens,  Campbell, 
and  Hunter,  but  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States  had  actually  followed  him,  the  perturbation 
in  Washington  was  something  which  cannot  be  read 
ily  described.  The  Peace  Democrats  went  about  the 
corridors  of  the  hotels  and  the  Capitol,  saying  that 
Lincoln  had  at  last  come  to  their  way  of  thinking, 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  225 

and  had  gone  to  Hampton  Roads  to  open  peace-ne 
gotiations.  The  radicals  were  in  a  fury  of  rage. 
They  bitterly  complained  that  the  President  was 
about  to  give  up  the  political  fruits  which  had  been 
already  gathered  from  the  long  and  exhausting  mili 
tary  struggle.  It  was  asserted  that  the  policy  of 
confiscation  and  emancipation  was  to  be  abandoned, 
and  that  as  a  further  concession  to  the  "  returning 
prodigal,"  the  abolition  of  slavery  by  the  action  of 
States  that  had  not  yet  voted  was  to  be  blocked 
then  and  there.  There  were,  however,  not  a  few 
moderate,  and  I  may  say  conservative,  Republi 
cans  whose  faith  in  the  sagacity  and  patriotism 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  still  remained  unshaken ;  but 
these  were  in  a  minority,  and  it  was  apparently 
with  feeble  hope  that  they  admonished  radical  Re 
publicans  and  Copperhead  Democrats  to  wait  until 
Lincoln  had  returned  from  Hampton  Roads  and 
was  ready  to  tell  his  story.  Among  the  bitterest  to 
denounce  the  course  of  Lincoln  was  Thaddeus  Ste 
vens,  who,  a  few  days  before,  had  said  in  his  place 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  that  if  the  country 
were  to  vote  over  again  for  President  of  the  United 
States,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  and  not  Abraham  Lin 
coln,  would  be  their  choice.  Others  of  the  same 
uncompromising  and  unreasonable  stripe  actually 
hinted  at  impeachment  and  trial.  Colonel  John  W. 
Forney  unwittingly  added  fuel  to  the  flames  by  pub 
lishing  in  the  "  Washington  Chronicle  "  a  series  of 
editorial  articles  ablaze  with  all  the  clap-trap  of 
double  leads  and  typographical  device,  in  which  it 
was  sought  to  prepare  the  public  mind  for  the  sac 
rifice  of  something  vaguely  dreadful  ^nd  dreadfully 


226  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

vague.  These  articles  counseled  popular  acquies 
cence  in  the  repeal  of  the  confiscation  law  and  other 
kindred  measures  as  a  condition  of  peace,  and  were 
telegraphed  all  over  the  country,  and  indorsed 
by  thoughtless  men  as  the  outgivings  of  President 
Lincoln.  They  were  read  by  astonished  and  indig 
nant  thousands,  were  flouted  and  scouted  by  the 
followers  of  Wade  and  Davis,  and  they  filled  with 
alarm  and  dejection  the  minds  of  multitudes  of 
readers  not  conversant  with  the  facts.  It  must  be 
remembered  that,  the  war  upon  President  Lincoln 
for  his  alleged  slowness  in  regard  to  the  slavery 
question  having  no  longer  that  excuse  for  being, 
the  ultra-radicals  had  flown  to  negro  suffrage  and 
a  more  vigorous  system  of  retaliation  upon  rebel 
prisoners  as  convenient  weapons  in  a  new  aggres 
siveness  ;  and  when  it  was  confidently  stated  that 
Lincoln  had  gone  to  Hampton  Roads  because  he 
feared  that  Seward  would  not  make  his  terms  "  lib 
eral  enough,"  the  excitement  in  and  around  the 
Capitol  rose  to  fever  heat. 

When  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  State 
returned  to  Washington  after  their  conference  on 
board  the  steamer  Elver  Queen  at  Hampton  Roads, 
the  tenseness  of  political  feeling  in  Congress  was 
slightly  relaxed.  The  radicals  grudgingly  admitted 
that  Lincoln  and  Seward  had  not  yet  compromised 
away  the  substantial  fruits  of  four  years  of  war 
and  legislation.  But  with  common  consent  every 
body  agreed  that  the  President  must  at  once  en 
lighten  Congress  as  to  the  doings  of  himself  and 
Secretary  Seward  and  the  rebel  commissioners  at 
Hampton  Eoads.  On  February  8  culminated  a 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  227 

long  and  acrimonious  quarrel  which  had  been 
brewing  in  the  Senate  between  some  of  the  con 
servative  and  radical  members  of  that  body.  Sum- 
ner  introduced  a  resolution  calling  on  the  President 
for  information  concerning  the  Hampton  Roads 
conference.  To  this  Senator  Doolittle  of  Wiscon 
sin  objected.  He  urged  that  such  a  request,  at  such 
a  time,  was  an  indirect  censure  of  the  President, 
and  would  be  construed  as  a  senatorial  demand  for 
him  to  give  an  account  of  himself.  Mr.  Doolittle 
was  somewhat  anxious  to  be  regarded  as  the  special 
champion  of  Lincoln  and  his  administration.  Sum- 
ner  made  a  thrust  at  Doolittle,  saying  that  the 
Wisconsin  senator  had  made  that  speech  before  in 
the  Senate,  and  that  he  [Sumner]  would  caution 
him  not  to  "jump  before  he  got  to  the  stile."  Irri 
tated  by  this  and  other  gibes  at  his  alleged  super- 
serviceableness,  Doolittle  replied  that  he  classed 
Senator  Powell  of  Kentucky  and  Senator  Wade  of 
Ohio  together ;  for  although,  as  he  said,  they  were 
acting  from  different  motives,  they  were  attempt 
ing  a  common  aim.  Both,  he  said,  were  opposed  to 
the  readmission  of  the  States  lately  in  rebellion 
where  the  Federal  authority  had  been  partially  re 
stored — Louisiana  at  that  time  being  the  bone  of 
contention.  Senator  Wade  soon  got  the  floor,  and 
replied  to  Doolittle's  speech  with  great  bitterness, 
losing  his  temper,  and  referring  to  Doolittle's  posi 
tion  as  "poor,  mean,  miserable,  and  demagogical." 
He  frankly  said  that  he  bore  the  senator  from  Wis 
consin  "  no  malice  and  very  little  good  will,"  and  he 
added  that  the  President  was  certainly  in  a  bad 
way  if  he  was  reduced  to  having  "  such  a  poor 


228  WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME 

prop  "  as  Doolittle.  Senator  "Wade  exhibited  great 
violence  of  temper,  and  Doolittle  did  not  appear 
to  advantage  in  his  attempt  to  parry  the  violent 
blows  of  the  angry  senator  from  Ohio.  The  up 
shot  of  this  painful  business  was  that  the  resolution 
calling  on  the  President  for  information  concerning 
the  Hampton  Roads  conference  was  adopted. 

On  the  same  day  the  House,  without  much  ado, 
passed  a  resolution  of  similar  import;  but  it  was 
not  until  two  days  later  (February  10)  that  the 
message  and  accompanying  documents  came  in. 
Meanwhile,  before  the  President's  return  from  Fort 
Monroe,  Fernando  Wood  made  in  the  House  an 
extraordinary  speech,  which  in  the  opinion  of  some 
people  was  designed  to  injure  Lincoln  with  his  own 
party  by  its  fulsome  praises  of  the  President's  pa 
triotic  action  in  going  to  Hampton  Roads  to  par 
ticipate  in  the  now  historic  conference  with  the 
rebel  commissioners.  Among  other  things,  Wood 
said :  "  If  it  be  true  that  the  President  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  and  the  Secretary  of  State  have  gone 
personally  to  meet  ambassadors,  or  representatives, 
or  commissioners,  as  you  may  please  to  call  them, 
from  Richmond,  I  think  that  instead  of  this  pro 
ceeding  being  obnoxious  to  the  censure  which  I 
have  heard  bestowed  upon  it,  they  but  follow  the 
precedent  of  Washington  and  Hamilton,  who  in  a 
similar  emergency  went  (the  one  President  and  the 
other  Secretary  of  the  Treasury)  to  treat  with 
rebels  who  were  engaged  in  the  whisky  insurrec 
tion  in  Pennsylvania  in  1796.  If,  therefore,  it  be 
true  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  has 
made  an  honest  effort  to  stop  this  shedding  of 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  229 

blood,  this  exhaustion  of  the  energies  of  our  great 
country;  if  it  be  true  that,  realizing  his  responsi 
bility  to  his  country  and  his  God,  he  has  thus  risen 
superior  to  partizanship  and  the  unfortunate  influ 
ences  that  have  surrounded  him,  I  say  all  thanks 
to  him,  and  God  speed  him  in  the  work  of  mercy 
and  justice  and  right."  Even  at  this  late  day  one 
can  imagine  the  effect  of  remarks  like  these  falling 
from  the  lips  of  one  of  the  most  notorious  of  the 
Northern  Copperheads,  eulogistic  of  the  chief  mag 
istrate,  who,  as  Wood  would  have  had  us  believe, 
had  taken  a  tedious  journey  to  a  point  near  the 
rebel  lines  in  order  to  reopen  those  peace  negotia 
tions  which  the  Democratic  National  Convention 
of  the  previous  summer  had  declared  necessary. 
On  the  same  day,  however,  Wood  offered  a  resolu 
tion  declaring  as  the  sense  of  the  House  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  the  President  to  proffer  and  accept 
only  such  negotiations  as  should  imply  the  con 
tinued  integrity  and  indissolubility  of  the  Federal 
government. 

The  House,  as  seen  from  the  reporters'  gallery, 
when  the  President's  message  and  accompanying 
documents  relating  to  the  Hampton  Roads  confer 
ence  came  in,  was  a  curious  and  interesting  study. 
There  had  been  a  call  of  the  House  on  the  previous 
evening,  and  a  great  number  of  absentees  were  now 
summarily  brought  up  at  the  bar  to  make  such  ex 
cuses  as  they  could  for  their  non-appearance  at  the 
previous  session.  These  proceedings  were  going 
on  when  the  message  from  the  President  was  an 
nounced.  Instantly,  by  unanimous  consent,  all 
other  business  was  suspended,  and  the  communica- 


IV 


230  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

tion  from  the  President  was  ordered  to  be  read. 
The  reading  began  in  absolute  silence.  Looking 
over  the  hall,  one  might  say  that  the  hundreds 
seated  or  standing  within  the  limits  of  the  great 
room  had  been  suddenly  turned  to  stone.  The  au 
ditors  who  strained  their  attention  were  not  merely 
interested  to  know  what  was  the  story  to  be  un 
folded:  they  were  apparently  fascinated  by  the 
importance  and  mysteriousness  of  the  possible  out 
come  of  this  extraordinary  incident.  It  is  no  exag 
geration  to  say  that  for  a  little  space  at  least  no 
man  so  much  as  stirred  his  hand.  Even  the  hur 
rying  pages,  who  usually  bustled  about  the  aisles 
waiting  upon  the  members,  were  struck  silent  and 
motionless.  The  preliminary  paragraphs  of  the 
message  recited  the  facts  relating  to  F.  P.  Blair, 
Sr.'s,  two  journeys  to  Eichmond,  and,  without  the 
slightest  appearance  of  argument,  cleared  the  way 
for  the  departure  of  Secretary  Seward  to  meet  the 
commissioners  at  Fort  Monroe.  Then  came  the 
three  indispensable  terms  given  in  the  instructions 
to  the  Secretary,  on  which  alone  could  any  confer 
ence  looking  to  peace  be  held.  These  were  : 

1.  The  restoration   of    the   national   authority 
throughout  all  the  States. 

2.  No  receding,  by  the  Executive  of  the  United 
States,  on  the  slavery  question,  from  the  position 
assumed  thereon  in  the  late  annual  message  to  Con 
gress  and  in  preceding  documents. 

3.  No  cessation  of  hostilities  short  of  an  end  of 
the  war  and  the  disbanding  of  all  forces  hostile  to 
the  government. 

When  the  clerk  read  the  words  at  the  close  of  the 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  231 

instructions  to  Seward,  "  You  will  not  assume  to 
definitely  consummate  anything,"  there  ran  a  ripple 
of  mirth  throughout  the  great  assembly  of  con 
gressmen  ;  and  the  tenseness  with  which  men  had 
listened  to  the  reading  was  for  the  first  time  re 
laxed,  although  there  had  been  a  subdued  rumble 
of  applause  when  the  clerk  read  in  the  instructions 
to  Mr.  Blair  that  the  President  would  be  always 
ready  to  receive  any  agent  whom  Davis,  or  other 
influential  person,  should  send  to  him  with  a  view 
of  securing  peace  to  the  people  of  "  our  one  com 
mon  country."  As  the  reading  of  the  message  and 
documents  went  on,  the  change  which  took  place 
in  the  moral  atmosphere  of  the  hall  of  the  House 
was  obvious.  The  appearance  of  grave  intentness 
passed  away,  and  members  smilingly  exchanged 
glances  as  they  began  to  appreciate  Lincoln's  saga 
cious  plan  for  unmasking  the  craftiness  of  the  rebel 
leaders ;  or  they  laughed  gleefully  at  the  occasional 
hard  hits  with  which  the  wise  President  demolished 
the  pretensions  of  those  whose  fine-spun  logic  he 
had  so  ruthlessly  swept  aside  in  the  now  famous  in 
terview.  Of  course  the  details  of  that  interview 
were  not  then  spread  before  the  country,  but  enough 
was  given  in  the  documents  submitted  by  the  Presi 
dent  to  Congress  to  show  the  subtle  wisdom  with 
which  his  mission  had  been  conducted  and  con 
cluded.  When  the  reading  was  over,  and  the  name 
of  the  writer  at  the  end  of  the  communication  was 
read  by  the  clerk  with  a  certain  grandiloquence, 
there  was  an  instant  and  irrepressible  storm  of  ap 
plause,  begun  by  the  members  on  the  floor,  and 
taken  up  by  the  people  in  the  gallery.  It  was  in- 


232  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

stantaneous,  involuntary,  and  irrepressible,  and  the 
Speaker  only  perfunctorily  attempted  to  quell  it. 
It  was  like  a  burst  of  refreshing  rain  after  a  long 
and  heartbreaking  drought. 

In  the  midst  of  the  great  inspiration  of  satisfac 
tion  which  followed  the  conclusion  of  the  reading 
of  the  message,  Eepresentative  James  Brooks,  of 
New  York,  made  a  partizan  speech  in  which  he  ex 
pressed  his  regret  that  negotiations  with  "  the  sepa 
rate  States  "  had  not  been  opened  by  the  President ; 
and  from  this  he  went  on  to  the  usual  phrases  of 
"  effusion  of  blood,"  "fratricidal  strife,"  and  "enor 
mous  debt,"  and  endeavored  to  break  the  force  of 
the  President's  communication,  which  for  a  time  at 
least  had  made  every  Unionist  in  that  House  a  friend 
of  every  other,  regardless  of  the  titles  of  "  conser 
vative"  and  "  radical"  which  had  heretofore  divided 
them.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  who  had  been  among  the 
most  acrid  of  Lincoln's  critics  during  the  period  of 
doubt  which  intervened  while  the  true  intent  and 
purpose  of  the  visit  to  Hampton  Roads  were  not  un 
derstood,  replied  to  Brooks  briefly  and  pungently, 
and  paid  a  high  tribute  to  the  sagacity,  wisdom,  and 
patriotism  of  President  Lincoln.  S.  S.  Cox  was  an 
other  speaker  who  praised  the  President.  He  said 
that  the  chief  magistrate  deserved  the  thanks  of  the 
country  for  his  noble  course  in  disregarding  "  mere 
politicians,"  and  in  looking  over  their  heads  to  the 
people  for  indorsement  and  approval. 

In  a  few  days  all  of  the  material  details  of  the 
Hampton  Roads  conference  were  spread  before  the 
country.  The  President's  reply  to  the  Senate's  call 
for  information  chiefly  consisted  of  a  despatch  pre- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  233 

pared  at  the  State  Department  for  transmission  to 
Mr.  Adams,  the  United  States  minister  to  England, 
in  which  the  whole  story  was  told  with  some  degree 
of  detail.  Those  censorious  critics  of  Lincoln's  pol 
icy  who  had  pretended  to  believe  that  the  Presi 
dent's  visit  to  Fort  Monroe  was  prompted  by  his 
desire  to  second  Secretary  Seward's  eagerness  and 
to  stimulate  his  desire  for  peaceable  negotiations, 
were  greatly  chagrined  when  they  ascertained  that 
it  was  General  Grant,  the  idol  of  the  hour,  who  had 
influenced  Lincoln  to  take  that  step.  Grant  had  con 
fidentially  written  to  the  Secretary  of  War  express 
ing  his  regret  that  the  Confederate  commissioners 
would  return  home  "  without  any  expression  from 
any  one  in  authority."  While  he  recognized  the 
difficulty  of  receiving  the  commissioners,  he  feared 
the  "  bad  influence "  which  their  failure  to  get  an 
authoritative  reply  would  have  on  the  minds  of  the 
people,  probably  South  as  well  as  North.  It  was 
Grant's  message,  in  which  he  deplored  the  failure 
of  the  commissioners  to  see  the  President,  that  had 
impelled  Lincoln  to  go  to  Fort  Monroe.  Although 
General  Grant  recognized  the  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  receiving  the  commissioners,  and  probably  had  no 
faith  in  any  substantial  gain  to  be  secured  thereby, 
he  did  say  that  he  was  sorry  that  the  errand  of  the 
three  men  would  be  bootless.  He  regarded  only  the 
moral  effect  of  the  mission  on  both  sides  of  the  lines. 
Lincoln  was  in  his  grave  before  all  the  facts  re 
lating  to  this  remarkable  conference  were  made 
public  by  those  who  participated  in  it ;  and  when 
those  details  did  come  out,  the  heroic  attitude  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  as  he  sturdily  stood  up  for  all 


234  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

the  results  of  the  long  contest  which  had  then  been 
secured  in  the  interest  of  the  Federal  Union  and 
the  rights  of  man,  was  denned  with  exceeding  clear 
ness.  The  wisdom  and  sagacity  with  which  he  con 
ducted  the  delicate  business  then  in  hand  were 
acknowledged  by  friend  and  foe  alike,  when  the 
session  of  the  House  broke  up  after  his  remarkable 
communication  had  been  read  to  it;  and,  years 
later,  those  who  had  heard  that  message  read  recalled 
with  a  thrill  of  pride  the  exposition  of  shrewdness 
contained  in  the  document.  But  among  the  vari 
ous  incidents  of  the  conference  the  world  will  prob 
ably  longest  remember  that  recorded  by  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  one  of  the  three  commissioners,  who, 
afterward  writing  of  the  event,  said  that  Mr.  Hun 
ter  made  a  long  reply  to  the  President's  refusal  to 
recognize  another  government  inside  of  that  of 
which  he  alone  was  President  by  receiving  ambas 
sadors  to  treat  for  peace.  "Mr.  Hunter,"  says 
Stephens,  "  referred  to  the  correspondence  between 
King  Charles  I.  and  his  parliament  as  a  trust 
worthy  precedent  of  a  constitutional  ruler  treating 
with  rebels.  Mr.  Lincoln's  face  then  wore  that  in 
describable  expression  which  generally  preceded  his 
hardest  hits,  and  he  remarked:  'Upon  questions  of 
history  I  must  refer  you  to  Mr.  Seward,  for  he  is 
posted  in  such  things,  and  I  do  not  pretend  to  be 
bright.  My  only  distinct  recollection  of  the  matter 
is  that  Charles  lost  his  head.'  That  settled  Mr. 
Hunter  for  a  while." 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  235 

LINCOLN'S  SECOND  INAUGURATION 

THE  day  of  Lincoln's  second  inauguration,  March 
4, 1865,  was  as  somber  and  drizzly  as  the  November 
day  of  his  second  election.  When  the  hour  of  noon 
arrived,  great  crowds  of  men  and  women  streamed 
around  the  Capitol  building  in  most  wretched 
plight.  The  mud  in  the  city  of  Washington  on 
that  day  certainly  excelled  all  the  other  varieties  I 
have  ever  seen  before  or  since,  and  the  greatest  test 
of  feminine  heroism — the  spoiling  of  their  clothes — 
redounded  amply  to  the  credit  of  the  women  who 
were  so  bedraggled  and  drenched  on  that  memorable 
day.  The  only  entrance  to  the  Senate  wing,  where 
the  preliminary  ceremonies  were  held,  was  by  the 
main  or  eastern  portico,  the  other  entrances  being 
used  only  by  privileged  persons.  From  the  -report 
ers'  gallery  one  could  see  that  the  senators  were  all 
massed  on  one  side  of  their  chamber,  the  other  side 
being  left  for  the  members  of  the  House  and  the 
few  notables  who  should  come  in  later.  When  the 
doors  of  the  gallery  were  opened,  and  the  crowd  of 
women  had  finally  been  admitted,  the  sight  was  a 
beautiful  one.  Senator  Foote  of  Vermont  was  in 
the  chair,  and  was  greatly  discomfited  to  find  that 
the  fair  ladies  in  the  gallery  had  not  the  slightest 
idea  that  they  were  invading  a  session  of  the  Sen 
ate.  They  chattered  and  clattered  like  zephyrs 
among  the  reeds  of  a  water-side.  The  presiding 
officer  in  vain  tapped  with  his  ivory  mallet.  The 
gay  people  in  the  galleries  talked  on  just  as  though 
there  was  no  Senate  in  session  in  the  United  States ; 
but  when  the  attention  of  the  fair  mob  was  diverted 


236  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

by  the  arrival  of  eminent  personages,  something 
like  a  calm  prevailed,  and  there  was  a  silent  gazing. 
There  was  Hooker,  handsome,  rosy,  and  gorgeous 
in  full  uniform;  "the  dear  old  Admiral,"  as  the 
women  used  to  call  Farragut ;  Mrs.  Lincoln  in  the 
diplomatic  gallery,  attended  by  gallant  Senator  An 
thony  ;  a  gorgeous  array  of  foreign  ministers  in  full 
court  costume;  and  a  considerable  group  of  military 
and  naval  officers,  brilliant  in  gold  lace  and  epau 
lets.  There  was  a  buzz  when  the  justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court  came  in,  attired  in  their  robes  of 
office,  Chief  Justice  Chase  looking  very  young  and 
also  very  queer,  carrying  a  "  stove-pipe "  hat  and 
wearing  his  long  black  silk  gown.  The  foreign 
ministers  occupied  seats  at  the  right  of  the  chair 
behind  the  Supreme  Court  justices;  and  behind 
these  were  the  members  of  the  House.  The  mem 
bers  of  the  cabinet  had  front  seats  at  the  left  of  the 
chair,  Seward  at  the  head,  followed  by  Stanton, 
Welles,  Speed,  and  Dennison.  Usher  was  detained 
by  illness,  and  Fessenden  occupied  his  old  seat  in 
the  Senate.  Lincoln  sat  in  the  middle  of  the  front 
row. 

All  eyes  were  turned  to  the  main  entrance,  where, 
precisely  on  the  stroke  of  twelve,  appeared  Andrew 
Johnson,  Vice-President  elect,  arm  in  arm  with 
Hannibal  Hamlin,  whose  term  of  office  was  now  ex 
piring.  They  took  seats  together  on  the  dais  of  the 
presiding  officer,  and  Hamlin  made  a  brief  and 
sensible  speech,  and  Andrew  Johnson,  whose  face 
was  extraordinarily  red,  was  presented  to  take  the 
oath.  It  is  needless  to  say  here  that  the  unfortu 
nate  gentleman,  who  had  been  very  ill,  was  not  alto- 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN^  TIME  237 

gether  sober  at  this  most  important  moment  of  his 
life.  In  order  to  strengthen  himself  for  the  physi 
cal  and  mental  ordeal  through  which  he  was  about 
to  pass,  he  had  taken  a  stiff  drink  of  whisky  in  the 
room  of  the  Vice-President,  and  the  warmth  of  the 
Senate  chamber,  with  possibly  other  physical  con 
ditions,  had  sent  the  fiery  liquor  to  his  brain.  He 
was  evidently  intoxicated.  As  he  went  on  with  his 
speech,  he  turned  upon  the  cabinet  officers  and  ad 
dressed  them  as  "Mr.  Stanton,"  "Mr.  Seward,"  etc., 
without  the  official  handles  to  their  names.  Forget 
ting  Mr.  Welles's  name,  he  said,  "  and  you,  too,  Mr. 
— ,"  then,  leaning  over  to  Colonel  Forney,  he  said, 
"  What  is  the  name  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  I " 
and  then  continued  as  though  nothing  had  hap 
pened.  Once  in  a  while,  from  the  reporters'  gal 
lery,  I  could  observe  Haralin  nudging  Johnson  from 
behind,  reminding  him  that  the  hour  for  the  inau 
guration  ceremony  had  passed.  The  speaker  kept 
on,  although  President  Lincoln  sat  before  him,  pa 
tiently  waiting  for  his  extraordinary  harangue  to 
be  over. 

The  study  of  the  faces  below  was  interesting. 
Seward  was  as  bland  and  serene  as  a  summer  day ; 
Stanton  appeared  to  be  petrified ;  Welles's  face  was 
usually  void  of  any  expression  ;  Speed  sat  with  his 
eyes  closed ;  Dennison  was  red  and  white  by  turns. 
Among  the  Union  Senators  Henry  Wilson's  face 
was  flushed;  Sumner  wore  a  saturnine  and  sarcas 
tic  smile;  and  most  of  the  others  turned  and  twisted 
in  their  senatorial  chairs  as  if  in  long-drawn  agony. 
Of  the  Supreme  Bench,  Judge  Nelson  only  was  ap 
parently  moved,  his  lower  jaw  being  dropped  clean 


238  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

down  in  blank  horror.  Chase  was  marble,  adamant, 
granite  in  immobility  until  Johnson  turned  his  back 
upon  the  Senate  to  take  the  oath,  when  he  ex 
changed  glances  with  Nelson,  who  then  closed  up 
his  mouth.  When  Johnson  had  repeated  in  audibly 
the  oath  of  office,  his  hand  upon  the  Book,  he  turned 
and  took  the  Bible  in  his  hand,  and,  facing  the  au 
dience,  said,  with  a  loud,  theatrical  voice  and  ges 
ture,  "  I  kiss  this  Book  in  the  face  of  my  nation  of 
the  United  States." 

This  painful  incident  being  over,  Colonel  Forney, 
the  secretary  of  the  Senate,  read  the  proclamation 
of  the  President  convoking  an  extra  session,  and 
called  the  names  of  the  members  elect.  Thereupon 
the  newly  chosen  senators  were  sworn  in,  and  the 
procession  for  the  inauguration  platform,  which  had 
been  built  on  the  east  front  of  the  Capitol,  was 
formed.  There  was  a  sea  of  heads  in  the  great  plaza 
in  front  of  the  Capitol,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach, 
and  breaking  in  waves  along  its  outer  edges  among 
the  budding  foliage  of  the  grounds  beyond.  When 
the  President  and  the  procession  of  notables  ap 
peared,  a  tremendous  shout,  prolonged  and  loud, 
arose  from  the  surging  ocean  of  humanity  around 
the  Capitol  building.  Then  the  sergeant-at-arms  of 
the  Senate,  the  historic  Brown,  arose  and  bowed, 
with  his  shining  black  hat  in  hand,  in  dumb-show 
before  the  crowd,  which  thereupon  became  still,  and 
Abraham  Lincoln,  rising  tall  and  gaunt  among  the 
groups  about  him,  stepped  forward  and  read  his  in 
augural  address,  which  was  printed  in  two  broad 
columns  upon  a  single  page  of  large  paper.  As  he 
advanced  from  his  seat,  a  roar  of  applause  shook 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN^  TIME  239 

the  air,  and,  again  and  again  repeated,  finally  died 
far  away  on  the  outer  fringe  of  the  throng,  like  a 
sweeping  wave  upon  the  shore.  Just  at  that  mo 
ment  the  sun,  which  had  been  obscured  all  day, 
burst  forth  in  its  unclouded  meridian  splendor,  and 
flooded  the  spectacle  with  glory  and  with  light. 
Every  heart  beat  quicker  at  the  unexpected  omen, 
and  doubtless  not  a  few  mentally  prayed  that  so 
might  the  darkness  which  had  obscured  the  past 
four  years  be  now  dissipated  by  the  sun  of  pros 
perity, 

Till  danger's  troubled  night  depart, 

And  the  star  of  peace  return. 

The  inaugural  address  was  received  in  most  pro 
found  silence.  Every  word  was  clear  and  audible 
as  the  ringing  and  somewhat  shrill  tones  of  Lincoln's 
voice  sounded  over  the  vast  concourse.  There  was 
applause,  however,  at  the  words,  "both  parties  dep 
recated  war,  but  one  of  them  would  make  war  rather 
than  let  the  nation  survive,  and  the  other  would 
accept  war  rather  than  let  it  perish  " ;  and  the  cheer 
that  followed  these  words  lasted  long  enough  to 
make  a  considerable  pause  before  he  added  senten- 
tiously,  "  and  the  war  came."  There  were  occasional 
spurts  of  applause,  too,  at  other  points  along  this 
wonderful  address.  Looking  down  into  the  faces 
of  the  people,  illuminated  by  the  bright  rays  of  the 
sun,  one  could  see  moist  eyes  and  even  tearful 
cheeks  as  the  good  President  pronounced  these  no 
ble  words :  "With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity 
for  all,  with  firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us 
to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work 


240  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

we  are  in ;  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds ;  to  care 
for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his 
widow  and  his  orphans;  to  do  all  which  may  achieve 
and  cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace  among  our 
selves  and  with  all  nations."  Among  the  memories 
of  a  lifetime,  doubtless  there  are  none  more  fondly 
cherished  by  those  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  stand 
near  Lincoln  at  that  historic  moment  than  the  rec 
ollection  of  the  beautiful  solemnity,  the  tender 
sympathy,  of  these  inspired  utterances,  and  the 
rapt  silence  of  the  multitudes. 

There  were  many  cheers  and  many  tears  as  this 
noble  address  was  concluded.  Silence  being  re 
stored,  the  President  turned  toward  Chief  Justice 
Chase,  who,  with  his  right  hand  uplifted,  directed 
the  Bible  to  be  brought  forward  by  the  clerk  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  Then  Lincoln,  laying  his  right 
hand  upon  the  open  page,  repeated  the  oath  of 
office  administered  to  him  by  the  Chief  Justice, 
after  which,  solemnly  saying,  "  So  help  me  God," 
he  bent  forward  and  reverently  kissed  the  Book, 
then  rose  up  inaugurated  President  of  the  United 
States  for  four  years  from  March  4,  1865.  A  salvo 
of  artillery  boomed  upon  the  air,  cheer  upon  cheer 
rang  out,  and  then,  after  turning,  and  bowing  to 
the  assembled  hosts,  the  President  retired  into  the 
Capitol,  and,  emerging  by  a  basement  entrance, 
took  his  carriage  and  was  escorted  back  to  the 
White  House  by  a  great  procession. 

The  Book  was  probably  opened  at  a  venture  by 
a  clerk.  Chief  Justice  Chase  noted  the  place  where 
Lincoln's  lips  touched  the  page,  and  he  afterward 
marked  the  spot  with  a  pencil.  The  Book  so 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  241 

marked  was  given  by  the  Chief  Justice  to  Mrs. 
Lincoln.  The  President  had  pressed  his  lips  on 
the  27th  and  28th  verses  of  the  fifth  chapter  of  the 
Book  of  Isaiah,  where  were  these  words : 

None  shall  be  weary  nor  stumble  among  them ;  none 
shall  slumber  nor  sleep ;  neither  shall  the  girdle  of  their 
loins  be  loosed,  nor  the  latchet  of  their  shoes  be  broken  : 

Whose  arrows  are  sharp,  and  all  their  bows  bent,  their 
horses'  hoofs  shall  be  counted  like  flint,  their  wheels  like 
a  whirlwind. 

There  was  the  usual  reception  at  the  White 
House  that  evening,  and,  later  on,  the  traditional 
inauguration  ball,  at  which  the  President  and  his 
wife,  most  of  the  members  of  the  cabinet,  General 
Hooker,  Admiral  Farragut,  and  other  great  people 
were  present.  The  ball  was  held  in  the  great  Hall 
of  Patents  in  the  Interior  Department  building, 
and  was  a  very  handsome  affair;  but  its  beauty 
was  marred  by  an  extraordinary  rush  of  hungry 
people,  who  fairly  mobbed  the  supper-tables,  and 
enacted  a  scene  of  confusion  whose  wildness  was 
similar  to  some  of  the  antics  of  the  Paris  Commune. 

But  chiefly  memorable  in  the  mind  of  those  who 
saw  that  second  inauguration  must  still  remain  the 
tall,  pathetic,  melancholy  figure  of  the  man  who, 
then  inducted  into  office  in  the  midst  of  the  glad 
acclaim  of  thousands  of  people,  and  illumined  by 
the  deceptive  brilliance  of  a  March  sunburst,  was 
already  standing  in  the  shadow  of  death. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  END  OF  LINCOLN'S  CAEEER 

CLOSING  SCENES  OF  THE  WAE  DEAMA  —  THE  GEEAT 
TEAGEDY  —  THE  DOOM  OF  THE  CONSPIEATOES 

IN  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  March,  1865, 
Washington  saw  many  signs  of  a  collapse  of  the 
rebellion.  The  Confederate  army  appeared  to  be 
thoroughly  demoralized,  and  deserters,  who  arrived 
constantly  in  large  numbers,  reported  that  men 
from  Alabama,  Georgia,  Florida,  and  the  Carolinas 
could  not  be  expected  to  have  any  heart  in  a  fight 
which  then  seemed  only  for  the  defense  of  Virginia, 
while  their  own  States  were  occupied  by  the  armies 
of  the  Union.  During  the  month  of  March  more 
than  3000  deserters  were  received  at  Washington, 
and  great  numbers  were  quartered  at  Fort  Monroe, 
Annapolis,  and  other  points  nearer  the  lines,  where 
they  were  put  to  work  in  the  quartermaster's  de 
partment  or  in  the  naval  service.  One  curiosity  of 
the  times  was  a  Confederate  regimental  band  which 
had  deserted  in  a  body  with  its  instruments,  and 
was  allowed  to  march  through  the  streets  of  the  na 
tional  capital  playing  Union  airs.  This  was  one  of 

242 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  243 

the  oddest  signs  of  the  final  break-up.  People  re 
called  a  story,  told  by  Hooker,  how,  when  the  Union 
army  scaled  and  occupied  Lookout  Mountain,  a 
rebel  sentry  on  duty  on  the  crest  of  one  of  the 
most  difficult  precipices  saw  our  men  rise  up  in 
solid  masses  over  steps  which  had  been  thought 
inaccessible,  and  was  so  surprised  that  he  forgot 
to  run,  but  stood  with  feet  rooted  to  the  spot, 
watching  the  Union  force  climbing  up,  and  stream 
ing  past  him,  and  driving  the  enemy  far  to  the 
rear,  until  he  was  left  alone,  a  statue  of  amaze 
ment.  Recovering  himself  at  last,  he  threw  down 
his  musket,  stripped  off  his  rebel-gray  jacket,  stood 
on  them  both,  and,  looking  far  off  to  the  sunny 
South,  stretched  out  as  a  map  below  him,  said, 
"How  are  you,  Southern  Confederacy ? " 

But,  notwithstanding  such  indications  of  a  col 
lapse  of  the  rebellion,  at  this  very  time  many  North 
ern  Union  newspapers,  led  by  Horace  Greeley  and 
others  of  his  stamp,  were  demanding  that  appeals 
should  be  made  to  the  Southern  people  "to  stop 
the  flow  of  blood  and  the  waste  of  treasure,"  and 
that  some  message  should  be  sent  to  the  Southern 
ers  "  so  terse  that  it  will  surely  be  circulated,  and 
so  lucid  that  it  cannot  be  misconstrued  or  per 
verted,"  by  way  of  an  invitation  to  cease  firing. 
Curiously  enough,  the  nearer  the  time  came  for  a 
final  surrender,  the  more  fervid  was  the  demand 
for  negotiation  and  appeal  from  the  unreasonable 
radicals  in  the  ranks  of  Northern  Unionists.  But 
all  this  was  soon  to  end ;  and  while  a  small  party 
was  asking,  "  Why  not  negotiate  ? "  the  downfall 
came. 


244  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

The  army  of  Grant  had  been  enveloping  Peters 
burg  on  March  28  and  29,  and  about  ten  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  April  3  word  was  received  in  Wash 
ington  from  President  Lincoln  at  City  Point  that 
that  city  had  been  evacuated,  and  that  our  army 
was  pushing  into  it,  sweeping  around  it,  and  pur 
suing  the  flying  squadrons  of  Lee.  At  a  quarter 
to  eleven  in  that  forenoon  came  a  despatch  to  the 
War  Department  from  General  Weitzel,  dated  at 
Richmond,  announcing  the  fall  of  the  Confederate 
capital.  It  was  not  many  minutes  before  the  news 
spread  like  wildfire  through  Washington,  and  the 
intelligence,  at  first  doubted,  was  speedily  made 
certain  by  the  circulation  of  thousands  of  news 
paper  "extras"  containing  the  news  in  bulletins 
issued  from  the  War  Department.  In  a  moment 
of  time  the  city  was  ablaze  with  an  excitement  the 
like  of  which  was  never  seen  before;  and  every 
body  who  had  a  piece  of  bunting  spread  it  to  the 
breeze ;  from  one  end  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue  to 
the  other  the  air  seemed  to  burn  with  the  bright 
hues  of  the  flag.  The  sky  was  shaken  by  a  grand 
salute  of  800  guns,  fired  by  order  of  the  Secretary 
of  War — 300  for  Petersburg  and  500  for  Richmond. 
Almost  by  magic  the  streets  were  crowded  with 
hosts  of  people,  talking,  laughing,  hurrahing,  and 
shouting  in  the  fullness  of  their  joy.  Men  em 
braced  one  another,  "treated"  one  another,  made 
up  old  quarrels,  renewed  old  friendships,  marched 
through  the  streets  arm  in  arm,  singing  and  chat 
ting  in  that  happy  sort  of  abandon  which  charac 
terizes  our  people  when  under  the  influence  of  a 
great  and  universal  happiness.  The  atmosphere 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  245 

was  full  of  the  intoxication  of  joy.  The  depart 
ments  of  the  Government  and  many  stores  and 
private  offices  were  closed  for  the  day,  and  hosts 
of  hard-worked  clerks  had  their  full  share  of  the 
general  holiday.  Bands  of  music,  apparently  with 
out  any  special  direction  or  formal  call,  paraded 
the  streets,  and  boomed  and  blared  from  every 
public  place,  until  the  air  was  resonant  with  the 
expression  of  the  popular  jubilation  in  all  the  na 
tional  airs,  not  forgetting  "Dixie,"  which,  it  will 
be  remembered,  President  Lincoln  afterward  de 
clared  to  be  among  the  spoils  of  war. 

The  American  habit  of  speech-making  was  never 
before  so  conspicuously  exemplified.  Wherever 
any  man  was  found  who  could  make  a  speech,  or 
who  thought  he  could  make  a  speech,  there  a 
speech  was  made ;  and  a  great  many  men  who  had 
never  before  made  one  found  themselves  thrust 
upon  a  crowd  of  enthusiastic  sovereigns  who  de 
manded  of  them  something  by  way  of  jubilant  ora 
tory.  One  of  the  best  of  those  offhand  addresses 
extorted  by  the  enthusiastic  crowds  was  that  of 
Secretary  Stanton,  who  was  called  upon  at  the 
War  Department  by  an  eager  multitude  clamorous 
for  more  details  and  for  a  speech.  The  great  War 
Secretary,  for  once  in  his  life  so  overcome  by  emo 
tion  that  he  could  not  speak  continuously,  said 
this: 


Friends  and  fellow-citizens :  In  this  great  hour  of  tri 
umph  my  heart,  as  well  as  yours,  is  penetrated  with  grat 
itude  to  Almighty  God  for  his  deliverance  of  the  nation. 
Our  thanks  are  due  to  the  President,  to  the  army  and 

1C* 


246  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

navy,  to  the  great  commanders  by  sea  and  land,  to  the 
gallant  officers  and  men  who  have  periled  their  lives  upon 
the  battle-field,  and  drenched  the  soil  with  their  blood. 
Henceforth  all  commiseration  and  aid  should  be  given  to 
the  wounded,  the  maimed,  and  the  suffering,  who  bear 
the  marks  of  their  great  sacrifices  in  the  mighty  struggle. 
Let  us  humbly  offer  up  our  thanks  to  divine  Providence 
for  his  care  over  us,  and  beseech  him  to  guide  and  govern 
us  in  our  duties  hereafter,  as  he  has  carried  us  forward 
to  victory ;  to  teach  us  how  to  be  humble  in  the  midst  of 
triumph,  how  to  be  just  in  the  hour  of  victory,  and  to  help 
us  secure  the  foundations  of  this  republic,  soaked  as  they 
have  been  in  blood,  so  that  it  shall  live  for  ever  and  ever. 
Let  us  not  forget  the  laboring  millions  in  other  lands, 
who  in  this  struggle  have  given  us  their  sympathies,  their 
aid,  and  their  prayers  j  and  let  us  bid  them  rejoice  with 
us  in  our  great  triumph.  Then,  having  done  this,  let  us 
trust  the  future  to  him  who  will  guide  us  as  heretofore, 
according  to  his  own  good  will. 

Nearly  every  line  of  tins  address  was  punctuated 
with  applause. 

The  Secretary  then  read  Grant's  despatch,  an 
nouncing  the  capture  of  Richmond,  and  the  fact 
that  the  city  was  on  fire,  upon  which  the  Secretary 
asked  the  crowd  what  they  would  reply  to  Grant. 
Some  cried,  "  Let  her  burn  ! "  others,  "  Burn  it ! 
burn  it ! "  but  one  voice  shouted,  "  Hold  Richmond 
for  the  Northern  mudsills ! "  which  sally  was  re 
ceived  with  considerable  laughter.  Mr.  Stanton 
introduced  to  the  crowd  Willie  Kettles,  a  bright- 
faced  Vermont  boy  about  fourteen  years  old,  an 
operator  in  the  telegraph  room  of  the  War  Office, 
who  had  been  the  lucky  recipient  of  the  important 
despatch  announcing  the  capture  of  Richmond. 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  247 

Of  course  the  crowd  wanted  a  speech  from  the  lad, 
who  discreetly  held  his  tongue,  and  bowed  with 
modesty.  Secretary  Seward,  who  happened  to  be 
at  the  War  Department  to  hear  the  news,  was 
espied  and  called  out,  and  he  made  a  little  address 
in  which  he  said  that  he  had  always  been  in  favor 
of  a  change  in  the  cabinet,  particularly  in  the  War 
Department,  and  that  recent  events  proved  that 
he  was  right.  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  I  started  to  go  to 
4 the  front'  the  other  day,  and  when  I  got  to  City 
Point  they  told  me  it  was  at  Hatcher's  Run,  and 
when  I  got  there  I  was  told  it  was  not  there  but 
somewhere  else,  and  when  I  get  back  I  am  told  by 
the  Secretary  that  it  is  at  Petersburg ;  but  before 
I  can  realize  that,  I  am  told  again  that  it  is  at 
Richmond,  and  west  of  that.  Now  I  leave  you  to 
judge  what  I  ought  to  think  of  such  a  Secretary  of 
War  as  this."  The  crowds  continually  circulated 
through  the  city,  and  from  a  building  near  the 
War  Department  Senator  Nye  of  Nevada  and  Pres 
ton  King  of  New  York  spoke,  and  at  Willard's  Ho 
tel  General  Butler,  Green  Clay  Smith  of  Kentucky, 
and  Vice-President  Johnson  responded  to  the  eager 
and  uproarious  demand.  The  day  of  jubilee  did 
not  end  with  the  day,  but  rejoicing  and  cheering 
were  prolonged  far  into  the  night.  Many  illumi 
nated  their  houses,  and  bands  were  still  playing,  and 
leading  men  and  public  officials  were  serenaded  all 
over  the  city.  There  are  always  hosts  of  people 
who  drown  their  joys  effectually  in  the  flowing 
bowl,  and  Washington  on  April  3  was  full  of  them. 
Thousands  besieged  the  drinking- saloons,  cham 
pagne  popped  everywhere,  and  a  more  liquorish 


248  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

crowd  was  never  seen  in  Washington  than  on  that 
night.  Many  and  many  a  man  of  years  of  habitual 
sobriety  seemed  to  think  it  a  patriotic  duty  to  "  get 
full "  on  that  eventful  night,  and  not  only  so,  but  to 
advertise  the  fact  of  fullness  as  widely  as  possible. 
I  saw  one  big,  sedate  Vermonter,  chief  of  an  execu 
tive  bureau,  standing  on  the  corner  of  F  and  Four 
teenth  streets,  with  owlish  gravity  giving  away 
fifty-cent  "  shin-plasters "  (fractional  currency)  to 
every  colored  person  who  came  past  him,  brokenly 
saying  with  each  gift,  "  Babylon  has  fallen !  " 

On  the  night  of  April  4,  in  pursuance  of  a  recom 
mendation  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  city  was 
generally  illuminated.  All  the  public  buildings 
and  a  great  proportion  of  private  residences  and 
business  houses  were  alight  with  fireworks  and 
illuminations  of  every  description.  The  War  De 
partment  was  gorgeously  decorated  with  a  mass 
of  flags,  the  windows  were  filled  with  lights,  and  a 
huge  transparency  of  patriotic  devices  crowned 
the  portico.  The  same  was  true  of  the  Navy  De 
partment,  the  Winder  building  (occupied  by  the 
Government),  the  White  House,  and  the  State  and 
Treasury  buildings.  Secretary  Seward  was  the  au 
thor  of  a  much-admired  motto  over  the  portico  of 
the  State  Department,  which  read :  "  At  home 
Union  is  order,  and  Union  is  peace.  Abroad  Union 
is  strength,  and  strength  is  peace."  Over  another 
entrance  of  the  building  was:  "Peace  and  good 
will  to  all  nations,  but  no  entangling  alliances  and 
no  foreign  intervention."  The  Treasury  had  over 
its  chief  entrance  a  huge  transparency  which  was 
a  tolerable  imitation  of  a  ten-dollar  interest-bear- 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  249 

ing  United  States  note,  with  a  mammoth  facsimile 
of  Treasurer  Spinner's  signature  in  all  its  unique 
ugliness.  The  Treasury  motto  was :  "  U.  S.  Green 
backs  and  U.  S.  Grant.  Grant  gives  the  green 
backs  a  metallic  ring." 

With  that  wonderful  adaptability  which  is  char 
acteristic  of  the  American  people,  Richmond  was 
no  sooner  in  our  hands  than  all  the  machinery  of 
war,  transportation,  and  subsistence  began  to  tend 
thither,  and  orders  were  at  once  carried  out  to  re 
build  railroads,  equip  steamboat  lines,  and  put  up 
piers  and  bridges,  so  that  in  a  few  days  Washing 
ton  was  in  regular  communication  with  Richmond, 
and  that  city  was  used  as  a  base  of  supplies  against 
whatever  of  rebellion  might  be  left  in  arms.  The 
Orange  and  Alexandria  route  to  Richmond  was  re 
established,  although  for  the  time  being  the  line  of 
transportation  was  from  Washington  via  Acquia 
Creek  and  Fredericksburg.  Steamers  were  des 
patched  from  Washington  to  Richmond  with  hos 
pital  supplies,  and  a  United  States  mail  agent  took 
possession  of  the  Richmond  post-office ;  and  while 
Washington  was  celebrating  the  downfall  of  the 
rebel  capital,  the  General  Post-office  received  its 
first  regular  mail  from  the  captured  city.  Governor 
Peirpoint,  who,  as  Senator  Sumner  picturesquely 
said,  had  been  carrying  the  State  government  of 
loyal  Virginia  in  his  trousers-pocket  for  several 
years,  announced  that  the  peripatetic  ark  of  the 
government  finally  rested  in  its  proper  seat ;  and  so 
the  "  Common  Council  of  Alexandria,"  as  Sumner 
had  styled  the  "  loyal "  legislature  of  Virginia,  was 
once  more  holding  sittings  in  Richmond. 


250  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

But  greater  things  were  yet  to  come.  Most  peo 
ple  were  sleeping  soundly  in  their  beds  when,  at 
daylight  on  the  rainy  morning  of  April  10,  1865, 
a  great  boom  startled  the  misty  air  of  Washington, 
shaking  the  very  earth,  and  breaking  the  windows 
of  houses  about  Lafayette  Square,  and  moving  the 
inhabitants  of  that  aristocratic  locality  to  say  once 
more  that  they  would  be  glad  when  Union  victo 
ries  were  done  with,  or  should  be  celebrated  else 
where.  Boom !  boom !  went  the  guns,  until  five 
hundred  were  fired.  A  few  people  got  up  in  the 
chill  twilight  of  the  morning,  and  raced  about  in 
the  mud  to  learn  what  the  good  news  might  be, 
while  others  formed  a  procession  and  resumed 
their  parades,  —  no  dampness,  no  fatigue,  being 
sufficient  to  depress  their  ardor.  But  many  pla 
cidly  lay  abed,  well  knowing  that  only  one  mili 
tary  event  could  cause  all  this  mighty  pother  in 
the  air  of  Washington ;  and  if  their  nap  in  the  gray 
dawn  was  disturbed  with  dreams  of  guns  and  of 
terms  of  armies  surrendered  to  Grant  by  Lee,  they 
awoke  later  to  read  of  these  in  the  daily  papers ; 
for  this  was  Secretary  Stanton's  way  of  telling  the 
.people  that  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  had  at 
last  laid  down  its  arms,  and  that  peace  had  come 
again. 

But  the  great  news  had  really  reached  Washing 
ton  the  night  before  (Palm  Sunday),  and  a  few 
newspaper  men  and  others  of  late  habits,  who  were 
up  through  the  darkness  and  the  dampness  of  those 
memorable  hours,  had  sent  the  glad  tidings  all  over 
the  Union  from  Maine  to  California,  and  had  then 
unbent  themselves  in  a  private  and  exclusive  jolli- 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  251 

fication.  When  the  capital  was  broad  awake,  and 
had  taken  in  the  full  value  of  the  news,  the  fever- 
heat  that  had  fired  the  city  on  the  day  after  the 
fall  of  Eichmond  did  not  return.  Popular  feeling 
had  culminated  then,  and  after  that  great  event 
there  was  nothing  that  could  surprise  us,  not  even 
if  "Jeff"  Davis  himself  had  come  to  Washington  to 
surrender.  The  streets  were  shockingly  muddy, 
but  were  all  alive  with  people  singing  and  cheer 
ing,  carrying  flags,  and  saluting  everybody,  hun 
gering  and  thirsting  for  speeches.  General  Butler 
was  called  out,  among  others,  and  he  made  a  speech 
full  of  surprising  liberality  and  generosity  toward 
the  enemy.  The  departments  gave  another  holiday 
to  their  clerks;  so  did  many  business  firms;  and 
the  Treasury  employees  assembled  in  the  great 
corridor  of  their  building  and  sang  "  Old  Hun 
dredth  "  with  thrilling,  even  tear-compelling  effect. 
Then  they  marched  in  a  body  across  the  grounds 
to  the  White  House,  where  the  President  was  at 
breakfast,  and  serenaded  him  with  "  The  Star-Span 
gled  Banner." 

As  the  forenoon  wore  on,  an  impromptu  pro 
cession  came  up  from  the  navy-yard,  dragging 
six  boat-howitzers,  which  were  fired  through  the 
streets  as  they  rolled  on.  This  crowd,  reinforced 
by  the  hurrahing  legions  along  the  route,  speedily 
swelled  to  enormous  proportions,  and  filled  the 
whole  area  in  front  of  the  White  House,  where 
guns  were  fired  and  bands  played  while  the  mul 
titude  waited  for  a  speech.  The  young  hope  of 
the  house  of  Lincoln — Tad — made  his  appear 
ance  at  the  well-known  window  from  which  the 


252  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

President  always  spoke,  and  was  received  with 
great  shouts  of  applause,  whereupon  he  waved  a 
captured  rebel  flag,  to  the  uproarious  delight  of  the 
sovereign  people  below.  When  Lincoln  came  to 
the  window  shortly  after,  the  scene  before  him  was 
one  of  the  wildest  confusion.  It  seemed  impossible 
for  men  adequately  to  express  their  feelings.  They 
fairly  yelled  with  delight,  threw  up  their  hats  again 
and  again,  or  threw  up  one  another's  hats,  and 
screamed  like  mad.  From  the  windows  of  the 
White  House  the  surface  of  that  crowd  looked  like 
an  agitated  sea  of  hats,  faces,  and  arms.  Quiet  be 
ing  restored,  the  President  briefly  congratulated 
the  people  on  the  occasion  which  called  out  such 
unrestrained  enthusiasm,  and  said  that,  as  arrange 
ments  were  being  made  for  a  more  formal  celebra 
tion,  he  would  defer  his  remarks  until  that  occasion ; 
"for,"  said  he,  "I  shall  have  nothing  to  say  then  if 
it  is  all  dribbled  out  of  me  now."  He  said  that  as 
the  good  old  tune  of  "Dixie"  had  been  captured 
on  the  9th  of  April,  he  had  submitted  the  question 
of  its  ownership  to  the  Attorney-General,  who  had 
decided  that  that  tune  was  now  our  lawful  prop 
erty;  and  he  asked  that  the  band  should  play  it, 
which  was  done  with  a  will,  "  Yankee  Doodle  "  fol 
lowing.  Then  the  President  proposed  three  cheers 
for  General  Grant  and  the  officers  and  men  under 
him,  then  three  cheers  for  the  navy,  all  of  which 
were  given  heartily,  the  President  leading  off,  wav 
ing  his  hand ;  and  the  laughing,  joyous  crowd  dis 
persed. 

The  special  celebration  to  which  Lincoln  referred 
was  that  of  the  llth  of  April,  when,  in  answer  to 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN^    TIME  253 

the  customary  serenade,  the  President  made  a  long 
and  formal  speech.  All  of  the  government  build 
ings  were  again  illuminated,  and  the  people,  almost 
with  unanimity,  followed  the  example.  The  night 
was  misty,  and  the  exhibition  was  a  splendid  one. 
The  reflection  of  the  illuminated  dome  of  the  Cap 
itol  on  the  moist  air  above  was  remarked  as  being 
especially  fine ;  it  was  seen  many  miles  away.  Ar 
lington  House,  across  the  river,  the  old  home  of 
Lee,  was  brilliantly  lighted,  and  rockets  and  col 
ored  lights  blazed  on  the  lawn,  where  ex-slaves  by 
the  thousand  sang  "The  Year  of  Jubilee." 

The  notable  feature  of  the  evening,  of  course, 
was  the  President's  speech,  delivered  to  an  im 
mense  throng  of  people,  who,  with  bands,  banners, 
and  loud  huzzahs,  poured  into  the  semicircular 
avenue  in  front  of  the  Executive  Mansion.  After 
repeated  calls,  loud  and  enthusiastic,  the  President 
appeared  at  the  window,  which  was  a  signal  for  a 
great  outburst.  There  was  something  terrible  in 
the  enthusiasm  with  which  the  beloved  Chief  Mag 
istrate  was  received.  Cheers  upon  cheers,  wave 
after  wave  of  applause,  rolled  up,  the  President 
patiently  standing  quiet  until  it  was  all  over.  The 
speech  was  longer  than  most  people  had  expected, 
and  of  a  different  character.  It  was  chiefly  devo 
ted  to  a  discussion  of  the  policy  of  reconstruction 
which  had  been  outlined  by  him  in  previous  public 
documents.  It  began  with  the  words,  now  classic, 
"  We  meet  this  evening,  not  in  sorrow,  but  in  glad 
ness  of  heart.  The  evacuation  of  Petersburg  and 
Richmond,  and  the  surrender  of  the  principal  in 
surgent  army,  give  hope  of  a  righteous  and  speedy 


254  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

peace,  whose  joyous  expression  cannot  be  re 
strained.  In  the  midst  of  this,  however,  he  from 
whom  all  blessings  flow  must  not  be  forgotten.  A 
call  for  a  national  thanksgiving  is  being  prepared, 
and  will  be  duly  promulgated.  Nor  must  those 
whose  harder  part  gave  us  the  cause  of  rejoicing 
be  overlooked.  Their  honors  must  not  be  parceled 
out  with  others.  I  myself  was  near  the  front,  and 
had  the  high  pleasure  of  transmitting  much  of  the 
good  news  to  you,  but  no  part  of  the  honor  for 
plan  or  execution  is  mine.  To  General  Grant,  his 
skillful  officers  and  brave  men,  all  belongs.  The 
gallant  navy  stood  ready,  but  was  not  in  reach  to 
take  active  part." 

While  the  crowd  was  assembling  in  front  of  the 
house,  and  before  the  President  went  up-stairs  to 
the  window  from  which  he  was  to  speak,  I  was 
with  him,  and  noticed  that  his  speech  was  WTitten 
out,  and  that  he  carried  a  roll  of  manuscript  in  his 
hand.  He  explained  that  this  was  a  precaution  to 
prevent  a  repetition  of  the  criticisms  which  had 
sometimes  been  made  by  fastidious  persons  upon 
his  offhand  addresses.  Senator  Sunnier,  it  may 
be  remembered,  had  objected  to  the  President's 
using  on  a  former  occasion  the  expression,  •"  The 
rebels  turned  tail  and  ran,"  as  being  undignified 
from  the  lips  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
Lincoln  recalled  that  criticism  with  a  placid  smile. 
From  a  point  of  concealment  behind  the  window 
drapery  I  held  a  light  while  he  read,  dropping  the 
pages  of  his  written  speech  one  by  one  upon  the 
floor  as  he  finished  them.  Little  Tad,  who  found 
the  crowd  no  longer  responsive  to  his  antics,  had 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  255 

now  sought  the  chief  point  of  attraction,  and  scram 
bled  around  on  the  floor,  importuning  his  father  to 
give  him  "another,"  as  he  collected  the  sheets  of 
paper  fluttering  from  the  President's  hand.  Out 
side  was  a  vast  sea  of  faces,  illuminated  by  the 
lights  that  burned  in  the  festal  array  of  the  White 
House,  and  stretching  far  out  into  the  misty  dark 
ness.  It  was  a  silent,  intent,  and  perhaps  surprised, 
multitude.  Within  stood  the  tall,  gaunt  figure  of 
the  President,  deeply  thoughtful,  intent  upon  the 
elucidation  of  the  generous  policy  which  should  be 
pursued  toward  the  South.  That  this  was  not  the 
sort  of  speech  which  the  multitude  had  expected  is 
tolerably  certain.  In  the  hour  of  his  triumph  as  the 
patriotic  chief  magistrate  of  a  great  people,  Lin 
coln  appeared  to  think  only  of  the  great  problem 
then  pressing  upon  the  Government — a  problem 
which  would  demand  the  highest  statesmanship, 
the  greatest  wisdom,  and  the  firmest  generosity. 
I  have  said  that  some  of  Lincoln's  more  fastid 
ious  critics  had  objected  to  certain  of  his  offhand 
phrases,  which  readily  took  with  the  multitude,  and 
which  more  graphically  conveyed  his  meaning  than 
those  commonly  used  by  the  scholars.  Against 
advice,  he  had,  in  a  formal  message  to  Congress, 
adhered  to  the  use  of  the  phrase  "sugar-coated 
pill."  He  argued  that  the  time  would  probably 
never  come  when  the  American  people  would  not 
understand  what  a  sugar-coated  pill  was ;  and  on 
this  historic  occasion  he  used  another  favorite  fig 
ure  of  his  when  he  said,  "Concede  that  the  new 
government  of  Louisiana  is  only  to  what  it  should 
be  as  the  egg  is  to  the  fowl,  we  shall  sooner  have 


256  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

the  fowl  by  hatching  the  egg  than  smashing  it." 
But  it  turned  out  that  Senator  Sumner,  for  one, 
was  no  better  pleased  with  this  metaphor  than 
he  had  been  with  others  on  previous  occasions; 
for  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Lieber  of  Philadelphia,  next 
day,  he  wrote :  "The  President's  speech,  and  other 
things,  augur  confusion  and  uncertainty  in  the  fu 
ture,  with  hot  controversy.  Alas !  alas ! "  And 
still  later  in  that  year  Sumner  said :  "  The  eggs  of 
crocodiles  can  produce  only  crocodiles,  and  it  is  not 
easy  to  see  how  eggs  laid  by  military  power  can  be 
hatched  into  an  American  State." 

Years  have  passed  since  then,  and  the  grave  has 
long  since  closed  over  the  President  and  the  sena 
tors  who  opposed  his  policy  and  his  judgment. 
Posterity  has  vindicated  the  wisdom  of  Lincoln, 
and  has  dealt  charitably  with  the  errors  of  those 
who  in  their  day  lacked  that  charity  which  is  now 
entreated  of  mankind  for  them.  That  they  meant 
well,  that  they  were  patriotic,  that  they  were  sin 
cere,  no  man  can  doubt;  but  as  we  turn  our 
thoughts  backward  to  that  April  night  when  the 
great  President  made  his  last  public  speech  to  a 
silent  and  wondering  crowd,  we  may  well  regard 
his  figure  with  veneration  and  reverence,  aware 
now,  if  we  were  not  then,  that  he  builded  better 
than  they  knew.  In  the  general  jubilation  of  that 
hour,  however,  there  was  very  little  criticism  of 
the  President's  last  public  speech.  It  was  felt,  per 
haps,  that  the  man  who  had  brought  us  safe 
through  the  great  trial  of  our  strength  and  pa 
tience,  himself  strong  and  patient,  might  well  be 
trusted  with  the  adjustment  of  terms  of  reunion. 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  257 

Reunion  was  then  the  foremost  thought  in  the 
minds  of  men.  Slavery  was  dead,  peace  had  re 
turned,  and  henceforth  the  grateful  task  of  reunit 
ing  the  long-estranged  brotherhood  of  the  States 
was  ours.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  men  fairly  cried 
with  joy  when  the  certainty  of  this  happy  consum 
mation  rose  in  their  minds  ? 

But  even  while  we  stood  under  the  light  of  a  new 
day,  joyful  as  a  people,  triumphant  as  citizens, 
there  was  preparing  for  us  a  portentous  and  incon 
ceivable  disaster. 

THE  GREAT  TRAGEDY 

THE  afternoon  and  evening  of  April  14,  1865, 
were  cold,  raw,  and  gusty.  Dark  clouds  enveloped 
the  capital,  and  the  air  was  chilly  with  occasional 
showers.  Late  in  the  afternoon  I  filled  an  appoint 
ment  by  calling  on  the  President  at  the  White 
House,  and  was  told  by  him  that  he  "had  had  a  no 
tion"  of  sending  for  me  to  go  to  the  theater  that 
evening  with  him  and  Mrs.  Lincoln ;  but  he  added 
that  Mrs.  Lincoln  had  already  made  up  a  party  to 
take  the  place  of  General  and  Mrs.  Grant,  who  had 
somewhat  unexpectedly  left  the  city  for  Burlington, 
New  Jersey.  The  party  was  originally  planned  for 
the  purpose  of  taking  General  and  Mrs.  Grant  to 
see  "Our  American  Cousin"  at  Ford's  Theater,  and 
when  Grant  had  decided  to  leave  Washington,  he 
(the  President)  had  "  felt  inclined  to  give  up  the 
whole  thing";  but  as  it  had  been  announced  in 
the  morning  papers  that  this  distinguished  party 
would  go  to  the  theater  that  night,  Mrs.  Lincoln 


258  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

had  rather  insisted  that  they  ought  to  go,  in  order 
that  the  expectant  public  should  not  be  wholly  dis 
appointed.  On  my  way  home  I  met  Schuyler  Col- 
fax,  who  was  about  leaving  for  California,  and  who 
tarried  with  me  on  the  sidewalk  a  little  while,  talk 
ing  about  the  trip,  and  the  people  whom  I  knew 
in  San  Francisco  and  Sacramento  and  whom  he 
wished  to  meet.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  often  talked  with 
me  about  the  possibilities  of  his  eventually  taking 
up  his  residence  iu  California  after  his  term  of  of 
fice  should  be  over.  He  thought,  he  said,  that  that 
country  would  afford  better  opportunities  for  his 
two  boys  than  any  of  the  older  States ;  and  when 
he  heard  that  Colfax  was  going  to  California,  he 
was  greatly  interested  in  his  trip,  and  said  that  he 
hoped  that  Colfax  would  bring  him  back  a  good 
report  of  what  his  keen  and  practised  observation 
would  note  in  the  country  which  he  (Colfax)  was 
about  to  see  for  the  first  time. 

The  evening  being  inclement,  I  stayed  within 
doors  to  nurse  a  violent  cold  with  which  I  was  af 
flicted  ;  and  my  room-mate  McA and  I  whiled 

away  the  time  chatting  and  playing  cards.  About 
half-past  ten  our  attention  was  attracted  to  the 
frequent  galloping  of  cavalry,  or  the  mounted  pa 
trol,  past  the  house  which  we  occupied  on  New 
York  Avenue,  near  the  State  Department  building. 
After  a  while  quiet  was  restored,  and  we  retired  to 
our  sleeping-room  in  the  rear  part  of  the  house.  As 
I  turned  down  the  gas,  I  said  to  my  room-mate: 
"  Will,  I  have  guessed  the  cause  of  the  clatter  out 
side  to-night.  You  know  Wade  Hampton  has 
disappeared  with  his  cavalry  somewhere  in  the 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  259 

mountains  of  Virginia.  Now,  my  theory  of  the 
racket  is  that  he  has  raided  Washington,  and  has 
pounced  down  upon  the  President,  and  has  at 
tempted  to  carry  him  off."  Of  course  this  was  said 
jocosely  and  without  the  slightest  thought  that  the 
President  was  in  any  way  in  danger;  and  my 
friend,  in  a  similar  spirit,  banteringly  replied, 
"  What  good  will  that  do  the  rebs  unless  they  carry 
off  Andy  Johnson  also  ? "  The  next  morning  I  was 
awakened  in  the  early  dawn  by  a  loud  and  hurried 
knocking  on  my  chamber  door,  and  the  voice  of 
Mr.  Gardner,  the  landlord,  crying,  "Wake,  wake, 
Mr.  Brooks !  I  have  dreadful  news."  I  slipped  out, 
turned  the  key  of  the  door,  and  Mr.  Gardner  came  in, 
pale,  trembling,  and  woebegone, like  him  who  "drew 
Priam's  curtain  at  the  dead  of  night,"  and  told  his 
awful  story.  At  that  time  it  was  believed  that 
the  President,  Mr.  Seward,  Vice-President  Johnson, 
and  other  members  of  the  Government,  had  been 
killed;  and  this  was  the  burden  of  the  tale  that 
was  told  to  us.  I  sank  back  into  my  bed,  cold  and 
shivering  with  horror,  and  for  a  time  it  seemed  as 
though  the  end  of  all  things  had  come.  I  was 
aroused  by  the  loud  weeping  of  my  comrade,  who 
had  not  left  his  bed  in  another  part  of  the  room. 

When  we  had  sufficiently  collected  ourselves  to 
dress  and  go  out  of  doors  in  the  bleak  and  cheer 
less  April  morning,  we  found  in  the  streets  an  ex 
traordinary  spectacle.  They  were  suddenly  crowded 
with  people — men,  women,  and  children  thronging 
the  pavements  and  darkening  the  thoroughfares. 
It  seemed  as  if  everybody  was  in  tears.  Pale  faces, 
streaming  eyes,  with  now  and  again  an  angry, 


260  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

frowning  countenance,  were  on  every  side.  Men 
and  women  who  were  strangers  accosted  one  an 
other  with  distressed  looks  and  tearful  inquiries  for 
the  welfare  of  the  President  and  Mr.  Seward's  fam 
ily.  The  President  still  lived,  but  at  half -past  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  the  tolling  of  the  bells  an 
nounced  to  the  lamenting  people  that  he  had  ceased 
to  breathe.  His  great  and  loving  heart  was  still. 
The  last  official  bulletin  from  the  War  Department 
stated  that  he  died  at  twenty-two  minutes  past 
seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  April  15. 

Instantly  flags  were  raised  at  half-mast  all  over 
the  city,  the  bells  tolled  solemnly,  and  with  incredi 
ble  swiftness  Washington  went  into  deep,  universal 
mourning.  All  shops,  government  departments, 
and  private  offices  were  closed,  and  everywhere,  on 
the  most  pretentious  residences  and  on  the  hum 
blest  hovels,  were  the  black  badges  of  grief .  Nature 
seemed  to  sympathize  in  the  general  lamentation, 
and  tears  of  rain  fell  from  the  moist  and  somber 
sky.  The  wind  sighed  mournfully  through  streets 
crowded  with  sad-faced  people,  and  broad  folds  of 
funeral  drapery  flapped  heavily  in  the  wind  over 
the  decorations  of  the  day  before.  Wandering  aim 
lessly  up  F  street  toward  Ford's  Theater,  we  met  a 
tragical  procession.  It  was  headed  by  a  group  of 
army  officers  walking  bareheaded,  and  behind  them, 
carried  tenderly  by  a  company  of  soldiers,  was  the 
bier  of  the  dead  President,  covered  with  the  flag  of 
the  Union,  and  accompanied  by  an  escort  of  sol 
diers  who  had  been  on  duty  at  the  house  where 
Lincoln  died.  As  the  little  cortege  passed  down 
the  street  to  the  White  House,  every  head  was  un- 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  261 

covered,  and  the  profound  silence  which  prevailed 
was  broken  only  by  sobs  and  by  the  sound  of  the 
measured  tread  of  those  who  bore  the  martyred 
President  back  to  the  home  which  he  had  so  lately 
quitted  full  of  life,  hope,  and  cheer. 

On  the  night  of  the  17th  the  remains  of  Lincoln 
were  laid  in  the  casket  prepared  for  their  recep 
tion,  and  were  taken  from  the  large  guest-chamber 
of  the  house  to  the  famous  East  Room,  where  so 
many  brilliant  receptions  and  so  many  important 
public  events  had  been  witnessed ;  and  there  they 
lay  in  state  until  the  day  of  the  funeral  (April  19). 
The  great  room  was  draped  with  crape  and  black 
cloth,  relieved  only  here  and  there  by  white  flowers 
and  green  leaves.  The  catafalque  upon  which  the 
casket  lay  was  about  fifteen  feet  high,  and  consisted 
of  an  elevated  platform  resting  on  a  dais  and  cov 
ered  with  a  domed  canopy  of  black  cloth  which 
was  supported  by  four  pillars,  and  was  lined  be 
neath  with  fluted  white  silk.  In  those  days  the 
custom  of  sending  u  floral  tributes  "  on  funereal  oc 
casions  was  not  common,  but  the  funeral  of  Lincoln 
was  remarkable  for  the  unusual  abundance  and 
beauty  of  the  devices  in  flowers  that  were  sent  by 
individuals  and  public  bodies.  From  the  time  the 
body  had  been  made  ready  for  burial  until  the  last 
services  in  the  house,  it  was  watched  night  and  day 
by  a  guard  of  honor,  the  members  of  which  were 
one  major-general,  one  brigadier-general,  two  field 
officers,  and  four  line  officers  of  the  army  and  four 
of  the  navy.  Before  the  public  were  admitted  to 
view  the  face  of  the  dead,  the  scene  in  the  darkened 
room — a  sort  of  cliapelle  ardente — was  most  im- 


262  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

pressive.  At  the  head  and  foot  and  on  each  side  of 
the  casket  of  their  dead  chief  stood  the  motionless 
figures  of  his  armed  warriors. 

When  the  funeral  exercises  took  place,  the  floor 
of  the  East  Room  had  been  transformed  into  some 
thing  like  an  amphitheater  by  the  erection  of  an 
inclined  platform,  broken  into  steps,  and  filling  all 
but  the  entrance  side  of  the  apartment  and  the  area 
about  the  catafalque.  This  platform  was  covered 
with  black  cloth,  and  upon  it  stood  the  various  per 
sons  designated  as  participants  in  the  ceremonies, 
no  seats  being  provided.  In  the  northwest  corner 
were  the  pall-bearers — senators  Lafayette  S.  Foster 
of  Connecticut,  E.  D.  Morgan  of  New  York,  Reverdy 
Johnson  of  Maryland,  Richard  Yates  of  Illinois, 
Benjamin  F.  Wade  of  Ohio,  and  John  Conness  of 
California  ;  representatives  Henry  L.  Dawes  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  A.  H.  Coffroth  of  Pennsylvania,  Green 
Clay  Smith  of  Kentucky,  Schuyler  Colfax  of  Indi 
ana,  E.  B.  Washburne  of  Illinois,  and  H.  GL  Wor- 
thington  of  Nevada;  Lieutenant-G-eneral  Grant, 
Major-General  Halleck,  and  Brevet  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  Nichols ;  Vice- Admiral  Farragut,  Rear- Admiral 
Shubrick,  and  Colonel  Zeilin,  of  the  Marine  Corps ; 
civilians  O.  H.  Browning,  George  Ashmun,  Thomas 
Corwin,  and  Simon  Cameron.  The  New  York 
Chamber  of  Commerce  was  represented  by  its  offi 
cers,  and  the  New  York  Associated  Merchants  by 
Simeon  Draper,  Moses  Grinnell,  John  Jacob  Astor, 
Jonathan  Sturges,  and  Hiram  Walbridge.  Next  to 
them,  at  the  extreme  southern  end  of  the  room, 
were  the  governors  of  the  States  ;  and  on  the  east 
side  of  the  coffin,  which  lay  north  and  south,  and 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  263 

opposite  the  main  entrance  of  the  East  Room,  stood 
Andrew  Johnson,  President  of  the  United  States. 
He  was  supported  on  each  side  by  his  faithful  friend 
Preston  King  and  ex- Vice-President  Hamlin.  Be 
hind  these  were  Chief  Justice  Chase  and  his  asso 
ciates  on  the  Supreme  Bench,  and  near  them  were 
the  members  of  the  cabinet  and  their  wives,  all  of 
whom  were  in  deep  mourning.  On  the  right  of  the 
cabinet  officers,  at  the  northern  end  of  the  room, 
were  the  diplomatic  corps,  whose  brilliant  court 
costumes  gleamed  in  strange  contrast  with  the  som 
ber  monotony  of  the  rest  of  the  spectacle.  The 
members  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa 
tives  were  disposed  about  the  room  and  adjoining 
apartments,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  catafalque  was 
a  little  semicircle  of  chairs  for  the  family  and  friends. 
Robert  T.  Lincoln,  son  of  the  President,  was  the 
only  one  of  the  family  present,  Mrs.  Lincoln  being 
unable  to  leave  her  room,  where  she  remained  with 
Tad.  General  Grant,  separated  from  the  others, 
sat  alone  at  the  head  of  the  catafalque,  and  during 
the  solemn  services  was  often  moved  to  tears.  The 
officiating  clergymen  were  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gurley,  pas 
tor  of  the  President,  who  preached  the  funeral  ser 
mon  ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hall,  of  the  Epiphany  Episcopal 
Church ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gray,  who  was  then  chaplain 
of  the  Senate ;  and  Bishop  Simpson,  who  was  an 
intimate  friend  of  Lincoln.  A  singular  omission, 
whether  intentional  or  not  I  do  not  know,  was  that 
no  music  of  any  sort  was  mingled  with  the  exercises. 
The  sight  of  the  funeral  pageant  will  probably 
never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  saw  it.  Long  be 
fore  the  services  in  the  White  House  were  over,  the 


264  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

streets  were  blocked  by  crowds  of  people  thronging 
to  see  the  procession,  which  moved  from  the  house 
precisely  at  two  o'clock,  amid  the  tolling  of  bells 
and  the  booming  of  minute-guns  from  three  bat 
teries  that  had  been  brought  into  the  city,  and  from 
each  of  the  many  forts  about  Washington.  The 
day  was  cloudless,  and  the  sun  shone  brilliantly 
upon  cavalry,  infantry,  artillery,  marines,  associa 
tions,  and  societies,  with  draped  banners,  and  ac 
companied  in  their  slow  march  by  mournful  dirges 
from  numerous  military  bands.  The  Ninth  and 
Tenth  Eegiments  of  Veteran  Eeserves  headed  the 
column ;  next  came  a  battalion  of  marines  in  gor 
geous  uniforms ;  then  the  Sixteenth  New  York  and 
the  Eighth  Illinois  Cavalry  Regiments;  then  eight 
pieces  of  United  States  light  artillery  in  all  the 
pomp  and  panoply  peculiar  to  that  branch  of  the 
service ;  next  several  mounted  major-generals  and 
brigadiers,  accompanied  by  their  staffs ;  then  army 
and  naval  officers  on  foot  by  the  hundred,  more 
mounted  officers,  and  pall-bearers  in  carriages ; 
then  the  funeral  car,  a  large  structure  canopied  and 
covered  with  black  cloth,  somewhat  like  the  cata 
falque  which  had  been  erected  in  the  White  House. 
The  casket  rested  on  a  high  platform  eight  or  ten 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  street.  As  it  passed 
many  shed  tears,  and  all  heads  were  uncovered. 
The  car  was  inclosed  in  a  hollow  square  formed  by 
a  guard  of  honor  consisting  of  mounted  non-com 
missioned  officers  of  various  light  artillery  compa 
nies  from  Camp  Barry,  among  them  being  the 
Independent  Pennsylvania  (Hampton's)  Artillery, 
and  the  First  West  Virginia  Battery,  and  the  com- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  265 

pany  of  cavalry  known  as  the  President's  body 
guard  ;  then  came  the  carriages  for  the  family,  and 
then  the  President,  the  cabinet,  the  diplomatic 
corps,  both  houses  of  Congress,  and*  others. 

One  noticeable  feature  of  the  procession  was  the 
appearance  of  the  colored  societies  which  brought 
up  the  rear,  humbly,  as  was  their  wont ;  but  just 
before  the  procession  began  to  move,  the  Twenty- 
Second  United  States  Colored  Infantry  (organized 
in  Pennsylvania),  landed  from  Petersburg  and 
marched  up  to  a  position  on  the  avenue,  and  when 
the  head  of  the  column  came  up,  played  a  dirge, 
and  headed  the  procession  to  the  Capitol.  The 
coffin  was  taken  from  the  funeral  car  and  placed  on 
a  catafalque  within  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol, 
which  had  been  darkened  and  draped  in  mourning. 

The  coffin  rested  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol 
from  the  19th  of  April  until  the  evening  of  the  20th. 
During  that  time  many  thousands  of  people  from 
every  part  of  the  United  States  paid  to  the  dead 
form  of  the  beloved  President  their  last  tearful 
tribute  of  affection,  honor,  and  respect.  The  center 
of  the  building  was  temporarily  in  charge  of  the 
military,  Congress  not  being  in  session,  and  the 
arrangements  were  admirable  for  the  preservation 
of  order,  while  all  who  came  were  allowed  every 
reasonable  facility  in  the  carrying  out  of  their  mel 
ancholy  errand.  Guards  marshaled  the  vast  pro 
cession  of  sight-seers  into  a  double  line  which 
separated  at  the  foot  of  the  coffin,  passed  on  either 
side,  was  reunited  again,  and  was  guided  out  by  the 
opposite  door,  which  opened  onto  the  great  portico 
of  the  building  on  its  east  front. 


266  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

While  this  solemn  pageant  was  passing,  I  was 
allowed  to  go  alone  up  the  winding  stairs  that  lead 
to  the  top  of  the  great  dome  of  the  Capitol.  Look 
ing  down  from  that  lofty  point,  the  sight  was  weird 
and  memorable.  Directly  beneath  me  lay  the  casket 
in  which  the  dead  President  lay  at  full  length,  far, 
far  below;  and,  like  black  atoms  moving  over  a 
sheet  of  gray  paper,  the  slow-moving  mourners, 
seen  from  a  perpendicular  above  them,  crept  si 
lently  in  two  dark  lines  across  the  pavement  of  the 
rotunda,  forming  an  ellipse  around  the  coffin  and 
joining  as  they  advanced  toward  the  eastern  portal 
and  disappeared.  When  the  lying  in  state  at  the 
Capitol  was  over,  the  funeral  procession  from  Wash 
ington  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  began,  the  cortege 
passing  over  the  same  route  which  was  taken  by 
Abraham  Lincoln  when  he  left  his  home  for  the 
national  capital  to  assume  the  great  office  which  he 
laid  down  only  with  his  life. 

It  would  be  superfluous  now  to  dwell  on  the  inci 
dents  of  that  historic  and  most  lamentable  proces 
sion,  or  to  recall  to  the  minds  of  the  present  and 
passing  generation  the  impressiveness  of  the  won 
derful  popular  demonstration  of  grief  that  stretched 
from  the  seaboard  to  the  heart  of  Illinois.  History 
has  recorded  how  thousands  of  the  plain  people 
whom  Lincoln  loved  came  out  from  their  homes  to 
stand  bareheaded  and  reverent  as  the  funeral  train 
swept  by,  while  bells  were  tolled  and  the  westward 
progress  through  the  night  was  marked  by  camp- 
fires  built  along  the  course  by  which  the  great 
emancipator  was  borne  at  last  to  his  dreamless  rest. 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  267 

THE  DOOM  OF  THE  CONSPIRATORS 

THE  court-room  in  which  were  tried  in  May, 
1865,  the  eight  conspirators  arraigned  for  being 
concerned  in  the  plot  against  the  lives  of  the  heads 
of  the  Government,  was  a  place  of  fascinating  and 
perhaps  morbid  interest.  The  trial  was  arranged 
to  be  secret,  but  it  was  finally  opened  to  those  who 
could  procure  passes  from  the  president  of  the 
court.  The  room  in  which  the  trial  was  held  is  a 
part  of  the  great  United  States  Arsenal  establish 
ment,  attached  to  which  is  the  penitentiary  in  which 
the  conspirators  were  confined.  It  is  on  the  banks 
of  the  Potomac,  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city.  Enter 
ing  an  old-fashioned  brick  building,  one  was  shown 
into  a  large,  bare  room  on  the  ground  floor,  where 
sat  a  couple  of  staff-officers  receiving  the  creden 
tials  of  those  who  applied  for  admission  ;  they  sent 
these  up  to  the  court,  where  an  officer  inspected 
them,  and  returned  them,  if  satisfactory,  with  the 
desired  card  of  admission.  A  narrow  flight  of  stairs 
brought  the  visitor  to  a  small  chamber  in  the  sec 
ond  story,  where  a  knot  of  orderlies  were  lounging 
about,  and  an  officer  inspected  one's  pass;  after 
another  flight  of  stairs,  another  inspection  of  the 
pass  permitted  one  to  enter  the  court-room,  which 
was  in  the  third  story.  It  was  an  apartment  about 
twenty-five  feet  wide  and  thirty  feet  long,  the  en 
trance  being  at  the  end  opposite  the  penitentiary. 
Looking  into  the  room,  one  saw  that  it  was  divided 
lengthwise  into  two  parts,  the  portion  on  the  right 
being  occupied  by  the  court,  sitting  around  a  long, 
green-covered  table,  General  Hunter  at  one  end, 


2G8  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

and  Judge-Advocate-General  Holt  with  his  assist 
ants  at  the  other.  The  part  of  the  room  which  was 
not  occupied  by  the  court  was  railed  off,  and  was 
taken  up  with  a  few  seats  for  reporters  and  specta 
tors  generally,  who  were  crowded  confusedly  about, 
and  rested  as  best  they  could  against  the  bare, 
whitewashed  walls  of  the  room.  At  the  farther 
end  of  the  apartment  was  a  wooden  railing,  behind 
which,  on  a  narrow,  raised  platform,  sat  the  accused 
men,  all  in  a  solemn  row,  with  an  armed  soldier  sit 
ting  between  every  two  persons.  At  the  left-hand 
corner  behind  them  was  a  heavy  iron  door  opening 
into  the  corridor  along  which  were  the  cells  of  the 
prisoners.  Each  one  of  the  accused  was  manacled 
hand  and  foot,  and  sat  grimly  against  the  wall,  fac 
ing  the  court  and  the  witnesses,  the  witness-stand 
being  a  raised  box  in  the  center  of  the  room. 

On  the  left,  in  the  line  of  prisoners,  sat  Mrs. 
Surratt,  deeply  veiled,  with  her  face  turned  to  the 
wall,  slowly  and  constantly  fanning  herself,  and 
never  raising  her  head  except  when  ordered  to  show 
her  countenance  for  the  purpose  of  identification 
by  witnesses.  She  was  a  dark-looking,  fleshy, 
placid,  and  matronly  woman,  apparently  about  forty- 
five  years  of  age.  She  was  accused  of  being  privy 
to  the  plot,  assisting  both  before  and  after  the  as 
sassination,  and  secreting  in  her  house  the  arms 
and  other  implements  to  be  used  in  carrying  out 
the  conspiracy. 

Next  to  the  guard  who  sat  by  Mrs.  Surratt's  side 
was  Herold,  a  small,  dark  man,  about  twenty-five 
years  old,  with  a  low,  receding  forehead,  scanty 
black  hair  and  whiskers,  a  stooping  figure,  protrud- 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  269 

ing  teeth,  and  a  vulgar  face.  This  man  was  Booth's 
intimate  companion,  and  left  him  only  when  he  was 
burned  out  in  the  Maryland  barn. 

Next  was  Payne,  the  assassin  detailed  for  the 
murder  of  Seward.  He  sat  bolt  upright  against 
the  wall,  looming  up  like  a  young  giant  above  all 
the  others.  Payne's  face  would  defy  the  ordinary 
physiognomist.  It  certainly  appeared  to  be  a  good 
face.  His  coarse,  black  hair  was  brushed  well  off 
his  low,  broad  forehead ;  his  eyes  were  dark  gray, 
unusually  large  and  liquid.  His  brawny,  muscular 
chest,  which  was  covered  only  by  a  dark,  close- 
fitting  "  sweater,"  was  that  of  an  athlete.  He  was 
apparently  not  much  over  twenty-four  years  old, 
and  his  face,  figure,  and  bearing  bespoke  him  the 
powerful,  resolute  creature  that  he  proved  to  be. 
It  was  curious  to  see  the  quick  flash  of  intelligence 
that  involuntarily  shot  from  his  eyes  when  the  knife 
with  which  he  had  done  the  bloody  work  at  Sew- 
ard's  house  was  identified  by  the  man  who  found 
it  in  the  street  near  the  house  in  the  gray  dawn  of 
the  morning  after  that  dreadful  night.  The  knife 
was  a  heavy,  horn-handled  implement,  with  a  dou 
ble  edge  at  the  point,  and  a  blade  about  ten  inches 
long,  thick  at  the  back,  but  evidently  ground  care 
fully  to  a  fine  point.  This  knife  was  subsequently 
given  to  Robinson,  the  faithful  nurse  who  saved 
the  life  of  Seward,  and  who  was  afterward  made  a 
paymaster  in  the  army  of  the  United  States. 

Next  in  order  sat  Atzerot,  who  had  been  assigned, 
it  was  believed,  to  the  murder  of  Vice-President 
Johnson,  but  whose  heart  failed  him  when  the  time 
came  to  strike  the  blow.  This  fellow  might  safely 


270  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

challenge  the  rest  of  the  party  as  the  completest 
personification  of  a  low  and  cunning  scoundrel. 
He  was  small  and  sinewy,  with  long,  dark-brown 
hair,  dark-blue  and  unsteady  eyes,  a  receding,  nar 
row  chin  and  forehead,  and  a  generally  villainous 
countenance.  It  was  observed  that  when  any  ludi 
crous  incident  disturbed  the  gravity  of  the  court, 
as  sometimes  happened,  Atzerot  was  the  only  man 
who  never  smiled,  although  the  others,  Payne  es 
pecially,  would  often  grin  in  sympathy  with  the 
auditors. 

O'Laughlin,  who  was  supposed  to  have  been  set 
apart  for  the  murder  of  Stanton  or  Grant,  had  the 
appearance  of  the  traditional  stage  villain.  He  had 
a  high,  broad  forehead,  a  mass  of  tangled  black 
hair,  a  heavy  black  mustache  and  chin-whiskers, 
and  his  face  was  blackened  by  a  rough,  unshaven 
beard.  His  large  eyes,  black  and  wild,  were  never 
still,  but  appeared  to  take  in  everything  within  the 
room,  scanning  each  new  arrival  at  the  door,  watch 
ing  the  witnesses,  but  occasionally  resting  on  the 
green  trees  and  sunny  sky  seen  through  the  grated 
window  on  his  left.  He  often  moved  his  feet,  and 
the  clanking  of  his  manacles  would  attract  his  at 
tention  ;  he  would  look  down,  then  back  and  forth 
at  the  scene  within  the  court-room.  A  Calif ornian 
vigilance  committee  in  1849  probably  would  have 
hanged  him  "  on  general  principles."  He  was  ac 
cused  of  being  in  league  with  both  Surratt  and 
Herold,  and  was  seen  at  Stanton's  house  on  the 
night  of  the  murder,  asking  for  General  Grant. 

Spangler,  the  stage-carpenter  of  Ford's  Theater, 
was  about  forty,  heavily  built,  sandy  in  complexion, 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  271 

slovenly  in  appearance.  He  held  Booth's  horse  at 
odd  times,  kept  clear  the  way  to  the  rear  of  the 
theater,  and  was  suspected  of  being  his  lackey. 
The  poor  creature,  more  than  any  other,  appeared 
to  be  under  the  influence  of  imminent  bodily  fear. 
His  hands  were  incessantly  moving  along  his  legs 
from  knee  to  thigh,  his  bony  fingers  traveling  back 
and  forth  like  spiders,  as  he  sat  with  his  eyes  fixed 
on  each  witness. 

Dr.  Mudd,  the  companion  and  associate  of  Booth, 
who  received  the  flying  assassin  into  his  house  on 
the  night  of  the  murder,  and  set  his  fractured  limb, 
in  appearance  was  about  thirty- five  years  of  age, 
and  had  mild  blue  eyes,  a  good,  broad  forehead, 
ruddy  face,  hair  scanty  and  thin,  a  high  head,  and 
a  sanguine  temperament.  He  sat  in  his  shirt 
sleeves,  with  a  white  handkerchief  knotted  loosely 
about  his  neck,  and  attentively  regarded  the  pro 
ceedings  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  felt  sure  of 
himself. 

Last  in  the  row,  and  looking  out  of  the  window 
upon  the  pleasant  sky  and  tree-tops  beyond,  was 
Arnold,  the  "  Sam  "  of  Booth's  correspondence,  who, 
writing  from  Hookstown,  Maryland,  informed  the 
assassin  that  he  had  concluded  to  "give  up  the 
job,"  and  was  tired  of  keeping  up  appearances. 
This  man  was  as  uneasy  as  a  caged  whelp.  He 
leaned  his  head  on  the  rail  before  him,  or  looked 
out  of  the  window,  or  lounged  against  the  wall,  or 
rested  his  chin  on  his  breast,  and  generally  was  ab 
solutely  inattentive  to  everything  that  went  on. 
He  had  retreated  from  the  conspiracy,  and  was 
caught  at  Fort  Monroe,  where  he  had  gone  to  get 


272  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

out  of  the  way  until  suspicion  had  passed.  It  then 
appeared  that  he  figured  only  in  the  original  plan 
of  abducting  Lincoln,  and  was  to  have  caught  him 
on  the  stage  when  the  rest  of  the  villains  had  thrown 
him  over  from  the  box. 

The  appearance  and  demeanor  of  the  court,  it 
must  be  admitted,  were  neither  solemn  nor  impres 
sive.  The  members  of  the  commission  sat  about 
in  various  negligent  attitudes,  and  a  general  ap 
pearance  of  disorder  was  evident.  Many  ladies 
were  present,  and  their  irrepressible  whispering 
was  a  continual  nuisance  to  the  reporters,  who  de 
sired  to  keep  track  of  the  evidence.  The  witnesses 
were  first  examined  by  the  judge-advocate,  the 
members  of  the  court  putting  in  a  question  now 
and  then,  and  the  counsel  for  the  prisoners  taking 
up  the  cross-examination,  each  counselor  attending 
only  to  the  witness  whose  testimony  affected  his 
own  client.  The  witnesses  were  brought  in  without 
regard  to  any  particular  criminal,  all  being  tried  at 
once.  Occasionally  an  attorney  for  one  prisoner 
would  "  develop  "  the  witness  under  examination  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  injure  the  cause  of  another 
of  the  defendants,  and  then  a  petty  quarrel  would 
ensue  between  the  different  counsel. 

Of  the  eight  prisoners  at  the  bar,  Payne,  Atzerot, 
Herold,  and  Mrs.  Surratt  were  declared  by  the  court 
guilty  of  murder,  and  were  hanged  on  July  7, 1865. 
O'Laughlin,  Arnold,  and  Dr.  Mudd  were  found 
guilty  of  being  accessory  to  the  conspiracy,  and 
were  sentenced  to  imprisonment  at  hard  labor 
for  life.  Spangler,  who  impressed  most  people 
as  being  a  weak  creature,  unaware  of  being  con- 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME  273 

cerned  in  any  real  crime,  was  sentenced  to  six 
years7  imprisonment,  and,  with  O'Laughlin,  Arnold, 
and  Mudd,  was  sent  to  the  forts  of  the  Dry  Tor- 
tugas.  Dr.  Mudd  was  pardoned  by  President  John 
son  in  February,  1869,  and  Arnold  and  Spangler 
about  a  month  later  in  the  same  year.  O'Laughlin 
died  of  yellow  fever  while  in  prison  at  Fort  Jeffer 
son,  Florida.  John  H.  Surra tt,  who  was  at  first 
believed  to  have  been  the  would-be  assassin  of  Mr. 
Seward,  escaped  from  Washington  immediately 
after  the  tragedy,  and  fled  to  Canada;  thence  he 
went  to  Italy,  where  he  enlisted  in  the  Papal 
Zouaves,  but  was  traced  by  the  sleuth-hounds  of 
the  United  States  detective  force,  and  was  brought 
back  to  this  country  on  an  American  frigate  in  De 
cember,  1866,  and  tried,  but  not  convicted. 

A  painful  and  depressing  feature  of  this  tragical 
business  was  the  ease  with  which  many  well-meaning 
but  unreasonable  people  not  only  appeared  to  for 
get  the  awfulness  of  the  crime  committed,  but  made 
objection  to  the  findings  of  the  court  as  well.  Judge 
John  A.  Bingham,  who  assisted  the  judge-advocate 
in  the  trial,  was  unjustly,  even  wickedly,  pursued 
by  some  of  these  wrong-headed  persons  for  the  part 
he  took  in  the  conviction  of  Mrs.  Surratt.  All  the 
evidence  in  her  case  pointed  unerringly  to  her  guilt 
as  an  intelligent  accomplice  of  the  assassins.  And 
the  fact  that  Payne  sought  her  house  as  a  place  of 
refuge  after  his  murderous  assault  upon  Seward, 
was  only  one  of  many  more  conclusive  evidences  of 
her  active  share  in  the  great  conspiracy.  Her  sex 
appears  to  have  confused  the  judgment  of  many 
who  did  not  follow  the  trial  with  attentiveness. 


274  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

It  was  natural,  but  to  a  lover  of  Lincoln  almost 
surprising,  that  while  the  lifeless  form  of  the  mar 
tyr  was  being  borne  home  to  Illinois,  the  newly  in 
stalled  President,  Andrew  Johnson,  was  surrounded, 
courted,  and  flattered  by  eager  crowds  of  courtiers 
and  office-seekers  in  Washington.  If  Johnson  had 
just  been  inaugurated,  after  apolitical  campaign  in 
which  he  had  defeated  Lincoln,  and  was  expected 
to  overturn  everything  that  remained  of  his  prede 
cessor's  work,  the  appearance  of  things  would  not 
have  been  different  from  what  it  was.  Multitudes 
from  every  part  of  the  country  rushed  upon  Wash 
ington,  some  with  windy  and  turgid  addresses  to 
the  new  President,  and  many  more  with  applica 
tions  for  official  favor.  To  a  thoughtful  man  this 
exhibition  was  disgusting  beyond  description. 

Nor  was  one's  respect  for  a  pure  democracy 
heightened  by  the  habitual  pose  of  President  John 
son.  It  was  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  elas 
ticity  and  steadiness  of  our  form  of  government 
that  its  machinery  moved  on  without  a  jar,  without 
tumult,  when  the  head  was  suddenly  stricken  down. 
But  the  vulgar  clamor  of  the  crowds  that  beset 
Johnson,  the  boisterous  ravings  of  the  successor  of 
Lincoln,  and  the  complete  absorption  of  Washing 
ton  quidnuncs  in  speculations  on  the  "  policy "  of 
the  new  head  of  the  Government,  saddened  those 
who  regarded  this  ignoble  spectacle  with  hearts 
sore  with  grief  for  the  loss  of  him  who  was  yet 
unburied. 

All  these  petty  details  are  but  a  small  part  of  our 
history ;  but  they  do  belong  to  history.  Posterity 
is  already  making  up  its  verdict.  We  must  be  con- 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  275 

tent  to  leave  to  posterity  the  final  adjustment  of  all 
things.  Smaller  men  are  passing  out  of  human 
memory.  In  the  words  of  one  who  knew  him  well, 
Lincoln  "belongs  to  the  ages." 


CHAPTER  IX 

LIFE  IN   THE   WHITE   HOUSE 

MID  WAR'S  ALARMS — THE  BOY  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE — 
THE  PEST  OF  PLACE-HUNTERS — LINCOLN'S  STORIES 
—  SOME  OF  HIS  LITERARY  TENDENCIES  —  FONDNESS 
FOR  POETRY  —  HIS  METHODICAL  HABITS 

PROBABLY  no  family  that  ever  lived  in  the 
Executive  Mansion  was  so  irregular  in  its 
methods  of  living  as  were  the  Lincolns.  Naturally, 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  methodical  in  his  habits ;  he  was 
scrupulously  exact  in  all  the  details  of  his  office, 
and  his  care  for  written  documents  was  sometimes 
carried  to  an  extreme;  he  appeared  to  have  the 
Chinese  reverence  for  a  written  paper.  But  the 
exigencies  of  those  stormy  times  prevented  him 
from  being  regular  in  his  manner  of  life  in  the 
"White  House ;  and  the  example  of  the  head  of  the 
family  could  not  fail  to  affect  all  of  the  other 
members.  Never  very  attentive  to  the  demands 
or  the  attractions  of  the  table,  his  incessant  cares, 
his  anxieties,  and  the  engrossing  calls  upon  his 
time  (which  he  had  not  the  skill  to  parry),  left  him 
with  very  little  opportunity  to  attend  to  the  sim 
plest  duties  of  the  head  of  a  family.  Of  his  per- 

276 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  277 

soual  comfort  lie  was  so  absolutely  neglectful  as  to 
require  constant  prompting  from  other  members 
of  his  household. 

When  Mrs.  Lincoln,  whom  he  always  addressed 
by  the  old-fashioned  title  of  "  Mother,"  was  absent 
from  home,  the  President  would  appear  to  forget 
that  food  and  drink  were  needful  for  his  existence, 
unless  he  were  persistently  followed  up  by  some  of 
the  servants,  or  were  finally  reminded  of  his  needs 
by  the  actual  pangs  of  hunger.  On  one  such  occa 
sion,  I  remember,  he  asked  me  to  come  in  and  take 
breakfast  with  him,  as  he  had  some  questions  to 
ask.  He  was  evidently  eating  without  noting  what 
he  ate ;  and  when  I  remarked  that  he  was  different 
from  most  western  men  in  his  preference  for  milk 
for  breakfast,  he  said,  eying  his  glass  of  milk  with 
surprise,  as  if  he  had  not  before  noticed  what  he 
was  drinking,  "Well,  I  do  prefer  coffee  in  the 
morning,  but  they  don't  seem  to  have  sent  me  in 
any."  Who  "they"  were  I  could  only  guess. 

For  many  years  before  Lincoln  became  presi 
dent,  there  had  been  no  children  living  in  the 
White  House.  Buchanan  was  unmarried,  and 
Pierce  was  childless  when  he  took  up  his  residence 
in  the  Executive  Mansion.  Although  the  great 
house,  of  which  a  large  part  was  surrendered  to 
public  uses  and  inspection,  never  could  be  made  to 
assume  an  air  of  domesticity,  the  three  boys  of  the 
Lincoln  family  did  much  to  invest  the  historic 
building  with  a  phase  of  human  interest  which  it 
did  not  have  before. 


18* 


278  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

THE  BOY  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE 

THE  youngest  lad,  Thomas,  better  known  by  his 
nickname  of  "  Tad,"  was  the  irrepressible  spirit  of 
fun  and  mischief  which,  through  the  whole  of  his 
father's  term,  gave  the  life  in  the  White  House  its 
only  comic  element.  This  lad,  the  complete  em 
bodiment  of  animal  spirits,  may  be  called  one  of 
the  historic  boys  of  America.  His  name  is  closely 
identified  with  that  of  his  father  in  the  minds  of 
all  who  were  admitted  to  the  inner  precincts  of  the 
White  House;  and  thousands  who  never  saw  the 
home  apartments  of  that  gloomy  building  knew 
the  tricksy  sprite  that  brightened  the  weary  years 
which  Lincoln  passed  in  Washington. 

When  the  Lincoln  family  took  up  their  abode  in 
the  White  House,  Eobert,  the  eldest  of  the  three 
children,  was  not  quite  eighteen  years  old.  He 
had  been  admitted  to  Harvard  College  in  1860,  and 
was  away  from  home  during  a  greater  part  of  the 
time  thereafter ;  and  his  subsequent  successful  ca 
reer  as  Secretary  of  War,  Minister  to  England,  and 
lawyer  is  familiar  in  the  mind  of  the  reader.  The 
second  son,  Willie,  a  bright  and  cheery  lad, 
greatly  beloved  by  his  parent,  was  a  little  past 
ten  years  old  when  the  family  entered  the  White 
House.  He  died  in  February,  1862,  while  the  black 
shadows  rested  on  many  another  American  home. 
Tad  was  eight  years  old  when  he  was  taken  to 
Washington  with  the  rest  of  the  family.  He  had 
a  curious  impediment  in  his  speech  which  rather 
heightened  the  effect  of  his  droll  sayings ;  and  the 
difficulty  which  he  had  in  pronouncing  his  own 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  279 

name  gave  him  the  odd  nickname  by  which  he  was 
always  known.  After  his  father's  death,  Tad  was 
taken  abroad  by  his  mother,  and,  by  judicious 
schooling,  he  overcame  the  defect  of  which  I  have 
spoken.  Eeturning  home  with  his  mother  in  1871, 
he  was  prostrated  by  a  severe  illness;  and,  after 
enduring  with  marked  fortitude  several  months  of 
suffering,  he  died  in  July,  1871. 

Perhaps  it  was  heaviness  of  grief  at  the  loss  of 
Willie  that  made  it  well-nigh  impossible  for  Lin 
coln  to  treat  Tad's  innumerable  escapades  with  se 
verity.  While  the  family  lived  in  Washington,  the 
lad  was  allowed  his  own  way  almost  without  check. 
His  father  was  to  the  last  degree  indulgent,  al 
though  when  he  chose  to  exercise  his  paternal  au 
thority,  the  boy  was  readily  amenable  to  discipline 
or  reproof.  Much  of  the  time  it  was  impossible  that 
he  should  not  be  left  to  run  at  large.  He  was  ca 
ressed  and  petted  by  people  who  wanted  favors  of 
his  father,  and  who  took  this  way  of  making  a 
friend  in  the  family,  as  they  thought ;  and  he  was 
living  in  the  midst  of  a  most  exciting  epoch  in  the 
country's  history,  when  a  boy  in  the  White  House 
was  in  a  strange  and  somewhat  unnatural  atmo 
sphere.  But  I  am  bound  to  say  that  Tad,  although 
he  doubtless  had  his  wits  sharpened  by  being  in 
such  strange  surroundings,  was  never  anything 
else,  wThile  I  knew  him,  but  a  boisterous,  rollicking, 
and  absolutely  real  boy.  He  was  not  "  old  for  his 
years,"  as  we  sometimes  say  of  precocious  children, 
nor  was  he  burdened  with  care  before  his  time.  He 
was  a  big-hearted  and  fresh-faced  youngster,  and 
when  he  went  away  from  the  White  House,  after 


280  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

his  father's  tragic  end,  he  carried  with  him,  from 
the  midst  of  sorrows  and  associations  that  are  now 
historic,  the  same  boyish  frankness  and  simplicity 
that  he  took  into  it. 

Very  soon  after  he  began  life  in  the  "White  House, 
Tad  learned  what  an  office-seeker  was.  All  day 
long,  unless  the  President  was  absent  from  the 
building,  the  office-seekers  lined  the  upper  corridors 
and  passages ;  and  sometimes  the  lines  extended  all 
the  way  down  the  stairs  and  nearly  to  the  main  en 
trance.  When  other  diversions  failed  him,  Tad 
liked  to  go  around  among  these  waiting  place-hunters 
and  institute  inquiries  on  his  own  account.  He  would 
ask  what  they  wanted,  how  long  they  had  been 
there,  and  how  much  longer  they  proposed  to  wait. 
Some  of  these  men  came  day  after  day,  and  for 
many  successive  days ;  with  these  Tad  became  ac 
quainted,  and  to  them  he  would  give  much  sympa 
thetic  advice  in  his  own  whimsical  but  sincere  way. 
Once  he  mounted  guard  at  the  foot  of  the  public 
staircase,  and  exacted  toll  of  all  who  passed  up. 
"  Five  cents  for  the  benefit  of  the  Sanitary  Fund," 
he  explained  to  the  visitors,  who  were  not  unwilling 
to  have  a  friend  at  court  for  so  small  a  price. 

He  organized  for  himself,  after  the  custom  of  the 
day,  a  Sanitary  Fair.  Beginning  with  a  little  table, 
which  he  set  in  the  grand  corridor  of  the  White 
House  and  stocked  with  small  purchases  of  fruit  and 
odds  and  ends  begged  from  the  pantry  of  the  house, 
he  extended  his  operations  in  a  second  venture. 
He  secured  from  a  carpenter  a  pair  of  trestles  and 
a  wide  board,  on  which  he  spread  the  entire  stock 
of  an  old  woman  who  sold  apples,  gingerbread,  and 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  281 

candy,  near  the  Treasury  building,  bought  out  with 
the  lad's  carefully  saved  pocket-money.  This  "fair" 
was  set  up  just  within  the  portico  of  the  White 
House,  where  the  place-seekers,  whose  patronage 
the  shrewd  boy  catered  for,  would  be  sure  to  pass 
on  their  way  to  the  fountain  of  power.  Tad's  en 
terprise  was  highly  successful,  but  the  proceeds  of 
his  sales  were  speedily  dispersed  by  his  open- 
handed  generosity.  Before  night,  capital  and  prof 
its  had  been  spent,  and  the  little  speculator  went 
penniless  to  bed. 

Everything  that  Tad  did  was  done  with  a  certain 
rush  and  rude  strength  which  were  peculiar  to  him. 
I  was  once  sitting  with  the  President  in  the  library, 
when  Tad  tore  into  the  room  in  search  of  some 
thing,  and,  having  found  it,  he  threw  himself  on 
his  father  like  a  small  thunderbolt,  gave  him  one 
wild,  fierce  hug,  and,  without  a  word,  fled  from  the 
room  before  his  father  could  put  out  his  hand  to 
detain  him.  With  all  his  boyish  roughness,  Tad 
had  a  warm  heart  and  a  tender  conscience.  He  ab 
horred  falsehood  as  he  did  books  and  study.  Tutors 
came  and  went,  like  changes  of  the  moon.  None 
stayed  long  enough  to  learn  much  about  the  boy ; 
but  he  knew  them  before  they  had  been  one  day  in 
the  house.  "  Let  him  run,"  his  father  would  say ; 
"  there  's  time  enough  yet  for  him  to  learn  his  let 
ters  and  get  poky.  Bob  was  just  such  a  little  ras 
cal,  and  now  he  is  a  very  decent  boy." 

It  was  curious,  however,  to  see  how  Tad  compre 
hended  many  practical  realities  that  are  far  beyond 
the  grasp  of  most  boys.  Even  when  he  could 
scarcely  read,  he  knew  much  about  the  cost  of 


282  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

things,  the  details  of  trade,  the  principles  of  me 
chanics,  and  the  habits  of  animals,  all  of  which 
showed  the  activity  of  his  mind  and  the  odd  turn 
of  his  thoughts.  His  father  took  great  interest  in 
everything  that  concerned  Tad,  and  when  the  long 
day's  work  was  done,  and  the  little  chap  had  related 
to  the  President  all  that  had  moved  him  or  had 
taken  up  his  attention  during  the  daylight  hours, 
and  had  finally  fallen  asleep  under  a  drowsy  cross- 
examination,  the  weary  father  would  turn  once 
more  to  his  desk,  and  work  on  into  the  night,  for 
his  cares  never  ended.  Then,  shouldering  the  sleep 
ing  child,  the  man  for  whom  millions  of  good  men 
and  women  nightly  prayed  took  his  way  through 
the  silent  corridors  and  passages  to  his  boy's  bed 
chamber. 

On  an  occasion  of  issuing  a  presidential  procla 
mation  for  a  national  fast,  Tad  expressed  some  cu 
riosity  as  to  what  a  fast-day  could  possibly  be.  The 
result  of  his  investigations  filled  him  with  dismay. 
An  absolute  fasting  for  one  whole  day,  such  as  he 
was  told  to  expect,  was  dreadful.  Accordingly  he 
established  a  food  depot  under  the  seat  of  a  coach 
in  the  carriage-house.  To  this  he  furtively  con 
veyed  savings  from  his  table-rations  and  such  bits 
of  food  as  he  could  pick  up  about  the  larder  of  the 
White  House.  Nobody  suspected  what  he  was  do 
ing,  until  a  servant,  one  day,  while  cleaning  the 
carriage,  lighted  on  this  store  of  provision,  much  to 
the  rage  and  consternation  of  the  lad,  who  stood  by 
watching  the  gradual  approach  of  the  man  to  his 
provision  depot.  The  President  related  the  incident 
with  glee,  and  added,  "  If  he  grows  to  be  a  man, 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  283 

Tad  will  be  what  the  women  all  dote  on — a  good 
provider." 

Tad  accompanied  his  father  and  mother  on  the 
visit  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  spoken  of  in 
a  previous  chapter,  and  although  he  was  greatly 
delighted  with  the  bustle,  animation,  and  brilliancy 
of  the  reviews  during  those  memorable  days,  he 
was  anxious  for  home  when  night  and  darkness 
came  on,  and  there  was  nothing  to  engage  his  rest 
less  mind.  Then  he  would  begin  to  coax  his  father 
to  go  back  to  "Washington.  The  President,  although 
slightly  annoyed  by  the  boy's  persistence,  apolo 
gized  for  him,  saying  that  there  was  a  new  pony  at 
home  waiting  to  be  tried  under  the  saddle  by 
Tad,  who  had  finally  compassed  a  darling  project 
of  his  own.  Finally,  to  bribe  the  lad  to  cease  his 
importunities,  Lincoln  offered  to  give  him  a  dollar 
if  he  would  not  pester  him  with  further  inquiries 
about  going  home.  The  boy  accepted  the  bargain, 
but  he  did  not  keep  his  agreement  very  well ;  and 
on  the  last  day  of  our  stay  he  shyly  reminded  his 
father  that  he  needed  that  dollar  very  much.  Lin 
coln  thoughtfully  took  out  of  his  pocket-book  a 
dollar  bill,  and,  looking  in  the  boy's  eyes,  said: 
"Now,  Taddie,  my  son,  do  you  think  you  have 
earned  this  I "  The  lad  hung  his  head,  and  an 
swered  not  a  word.  "  Well,  my  son,"  said  the  in 
dulgent  father,  "  although  I  don't  think  you  have 
kept  your  part  of  the  bargain,  I  will  keep  mine, 
and  you  cannot  reproach  me  with  breaking  faith, 
anyway." 

On  the  way  from  headquarters  to  the  railway  sta 
tion  at  that  time,  there  was  an  immense  amount 


284  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

of  cheering  from  the  soldiers,  who,  as  usual,  seemed 
wild  with  delight  at  seeing  the  President.  Occa 
sionally  we  heard  them  cry,  "  Three  cheers  for  Mrs. 
Lincoln ! "  and  they  were  given  with  a  will.  Then, 
again,  the  men  would  cry,  "  Three  cheers  for 
the  boy ! "  This  salute  Tad  acknowledged,  under 
instructions  from  his  mother,  and  entirely  una 
bashed  by  so  much  noise  and  attention.  One  sol 
dier,  after  the  line  through  which  we  were  passing 
had  given  three  cheers  "  for  the  next  fight,"  cried, 
"  And  send  along  the  greenbacks  !  "  This  arrested 
the  attention  of  Tad,  who  inquired  its  meaning, 
and,  when  told  that  the  army  had  not  been  paid  for 
some  time,  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  greenbacks, 
he  said,  with  some  indignation,  "  Why  does  n't 
Governor  Chase  print  'em  some,  then  ? " 

There  are  several  interesting  photographs  of 
Tad  now  extant.  One  of  these  represents  him 
dressed  in  the  uniform  of  a  lieutenant.  In  a  mo 
ment  of  sportiveness,  Secretary  Stanton  gave  the 
boy  a  lieutenant's  commission,  and  "  Tad  "  managed 
to  get  together  most  of  the  articles  of  clothing  and 
equipment  suitable  to  his  unexpected  rank.  He 
actually  attempted  to  exercise  military  authority 
over  the  guards  at  the  White  House  ;  but  his  elder 
brother,  Robert,  interposed  to  relieve  the  men  from 
duty  after  Tad  had  placed  them  on  sentry.  That 
night,  it  is  recorded,  the  Executive  Mansion  was 
left  unguarded.  A  well-known  picture  of  Tad 
and  his  father,  engraved  for  the  "  Century  Maga 
zine  "  some  years  ago,  represents  the  boy  standing 
by  his  father's  side,  looking  over  the  pages  of  a 
large  book.  Lincoln  explained  to  me  that  he  was 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  285 

afraid  that  this  picture  was  a  species  of  false  pre 
tense.  Most  people,  he  thought,  would  suppose  the 
book  a  large  clasped  Bible,  whereas  it  was  a  big 
photograph  album  which  the  photographer,  posing 
the  father  and  son,  had  hit  upon  as  a  good  device 
to  use  in  this  way  to  bring  the  two  sitters  together. 
Lincoln's  anxiety  lest  somebody  should  think  he 
was  "  making  believe  read  the  Bible  to  Tad, "  was 
illustrative  of  his  scrupulous  honesty. 

THE   GETTYSBUKG  SPEECH  AND  OFFICE-SEEKING 

ONE  November  day — it  chanced  to  be  the  Sun 
day  before  the  dedication  of  the  national  cemetery 
at  Gettysburg — I  had  an  appointment  to  go  with 
the  President  to  Gardner,  the  photographer,  on 
Seventh  street,  to  fulfil  a  long-standing  engagement. 
Mr.  Lincoln  carefully  explained  that  he  could  not 
go  on  any  other  day  without  interfering  with  the 
public  business  and  the  photographer's  business,  to 
say  nothing  of  his  liability  to  be  hindered  by  cu 
riosity-seekers  "  and  other  seekers  "  on  the  way 
thither.  Just  as  we  were  going  down  the  stairs  of 
the  White  House,  the  President  suddenly  remem 
bered  that  he  needed  a  paper,  and,  after  hurrying 
back  to  his  office,  soon  rejoined  me  with  a  long  en 
velop  in  his  hand.  When  we  were  fairly  started, 
he  said  that  in  the  envelop  was  an  advance  copy  of 
Edward  Everett's  address  to  be  delivered  at  the 
Gettysburg  dedication  on  the  following  Tuesday. 
Drawing  it  out,  I  saw  that  it  was  a  one-page  sup 
plement  to  a  Boston  paper,  and  that  Mr.  Everett's 
address  nearly  covered  both  sides  of  the  sheet.  The 


286  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

President  expressed  his  admiration  for  the  thought- 
fulness  of  the  Boston  orator,  who  had  sent  this  copy 
of  his  address  in  order  that  Mr.  Lincoln  might  not 
traverse  the  same  lines  that  the  chosen  speaker  of 
the  great  occasion  might  have  laid  out  for  himself. 
When  I  exclaimed  at  its  length,  the  President 
laughed  and  quoted  the  line, 

"  Solid  men  of  Boston,  make  no  long  orations," 

which  he  said  he  had  met  somewhere  in  a  speech 
by  Daniel  Webster.  He  said  that  there  was  no 
danger  that  he  should  get  upon  the  lines  of  Mr. 
Everett's  oration,  for  what  he  had  ready  to  say 
was  very  short,  or,  as  he  emphatically  expressed 
it,  "  short,  short,  short."  In  reply  to  a  question  as 
to  the  speech  having  been  already  written,  he  said 
that  it  was  written,  "but  not  finished."  He  had 
brought  the  paper  with  him,  he  explained,  hoping 
that  a  few  minutes  of  leisure  while  waiting  for  the 
movements  of  the  photographer  and  his  processes 
would  give  him  a  chance  to  look  over  the  speech. 
But  we  did  not  have  to  wait  long  between  the  sit 
tings,  and  the  President,  having  taken  out  the  en 
velop  and  laid  it  on  a  little  table  at  his  elbow, 
became  so  engaged  in  talk  that  he  failed  to  open  it 
while  we  were  at  the  studio.  A  disaster  overtook 
the  negative  of  that  photograph,  and  after  a  very 
few  prints  had  been  made  from  it,  no  more  were 
possible.  In  the  picture  which  the  President  gave 
me,  the  envelop  containing  Mr.  Everett's  oration  is 
seen  on  the  table  by  the  side  of  the  sitter,  recalling 
the  incident  and  Lincoln's  quotation  of  Boston's 
"  long  orations." 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  287 

It  was  a  curious  illustration  of  the  pertinacity 
with  which  the  office-hunters  pursued  the  Presi 
dent,  that  even  Sunday's  sanctity  was  not  respected 
by  them.  When  we  returned  that  day  to  the 
White  House,  one  of  these  was  waiting  to  inter 
cept  him  at  the  entrance  with  a  paper  covered 
with  indorsements.  "  Office-hunting  was  in  the 
air,"  Lincoln  said. 

When  a  certain  prominent  comedian  of  the  time 
was  playing  in  Washington  during  Lincoln's  ad 
ministration,  the  President  saw  his  representations 
with  great  delight,  and  was  so  pleased  that  he 
expressed  himself  in  warm  terms  to  the  player 
through  the  medium  of  the  manager.  Thereupon 
the  actor  sent  the  President  a  book  in  which  he  in 
scribed  some  pleasant  words  by  way  of  dedication 
to  Lincoln,  who  acknowledged  the  gift  in  a  kindly 
little  note.  Not  long  after  this,  going  to  the  Presi 
dent's  cabinet  on  a  summons  from  him  very  late  at 
night,  I  noticed  this  man  waiting  alone  in  the  cor 
ridor  outside  the  President's  door.  Lincoln  asked 
me  if  any  one  was  waiting  without,  and  when  I 
told  him  that  I  had  seen  the  actor  sitting  there,  he 
made  a  gesture  of  impatience  and  regret,  and  said 
that  the  little  courtesies  which  had  passed  between 
them  had  resulted  in  the  comedian  applying  to 
him  for  an  office.  I  have  forgotten  what  it  was, 
but  I  think  it  was  an  English  consulate  which  the 
old  man  wanted.  Lincoln  almost  groaned  as  he 
said  that  it  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  have  any 
close  relations  with  people  in  Washington  without 
finding  that  the  acquaintance  thus  formed  gener 
ally  ended  with  an  application  for  office. 


288  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME 

One  of  the  best  things  he  ever  said  about  the 
office-seeking  that  consumed  so  much  of  the  pre 
cious  time  which  should  have  been  given  to  more 
important  matters  was  that  he  was  like  a  man  who 
was  so  busy  renting  out  rooms  at  one  end  of  his 
house  that  he  could  not  stop  to  put  out  the  fire 
that  was  burning  the  other  end.  On  another  occa 
sion,  he  said  that  it  sometimes  seemed  to  him  that 
each  one  in  the  unending  stream  of  place-hunters 
that  approached  him  seized  and  took  away  a  bit  of 
his  vitality.  No  wonder  the  harassed  President 
was  often  so  worn  and  spent  with  his  day's  labors, 
in  the  midst  of  tremendous  cares  of  office,  that  he 
sunk  into  a  semi-conscious  state,  his  eyes  fixed  on 
vacancy,  and  became  so  deeply  abstracted  that  it 
was  with  difficulty  that  he  could  be  roused  by  the 
friend,  or  member  of  his  own  household,  who  stood 
over  him. 

Returning  from  a  visit  to  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac,  when  its  depots  were  at  City  Point,  I  gave 
an  account  of  my  visit  to  the  President,  as  he  had 
sent  me  with  a  special  pass  to  Grant's  headquar 
ters.  He  asked,  jocularly,  "Did  you  meet  any 
colonels  who  wanted  to  be  brigadiers,  or  any  brig 
adiers  who  wanted  to  be  major-generals,  or  any 
major-generals  who  wanted  to  run  things!"  Re 
ceiving  a  reply  in  the  negative,  he  stretched  out 
his  hand  in  mock  congratulation,  and  said,  "Happy 
man ! "  Afterward,  an  officer  who  had  been  atten 
tive  to  our  little  party  did  come  to  my  lodgings  and 
complain  that  he  ought  to  be  promoted,  urging, 
among  other  things,  that  his  relationship  to  a  dis 
tinguished  general  kept  him  down.  I  told  the  inci- 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN^   TIME  289 

dent  to  the  President,  after  recalling  his  previous 
questions  to  me.  Lincoln  fairly  shrieked  with  laugh 
ter,  and,  jumping  up  from  his  seat,  cried,  "  Keeps 
him  down!  Keeps  him  down?  That  's  all  that 
keeps  him  up ! " 

A  Western  senator  who  had  failed  of  a  reelection, 
brought  his  successor,  one  day,  and  introduced  him 
to  the  President.  Lincoln,  in  reply,  expressed  his 
gratification  at  making  the  acquaintance  of  a  new 
senator.  "Yet,"  he  added,  "I  hate  to  have  old 
friends  like  Senator  W go  away.  And — an 
other  thing — I  usually  find  that  a  senator  or  rep 
resentative  out  of  business  is  a  sort  of  lame  duck. 
He  has  to  be  provided  for."  When  the  two  gentle 
men  had  withdrawn,  I  took  the  liberty  of  saying 

that  Mr.  W did  not  seem  to  relish  that  remark. 

Weeks  after,  when  I  had  forgotten  the  circum 
stance,  the  President  said,  "You  thought  I  was 

almost  rude  to  Senator  W the  other  day.    Well, 

now  he  wants  Commissioner  Dole's  place ! "  Mr. 
Dole  was  then  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs. 

LINCOLN'S  STOKY-TELLING 

LINCOLN  very  seldom  invented  a  story.  Once  he 
said  to  me,  "  You  speak  of  Lincoln  stories.  I  don't 
think  that  is  a  correct  phrase.  I  don't  make  the 
stories  mine  by  telling  them.  I  am  only  a  retail 
dealer."  Numberless  stories  were  repeated  to  him 
as  being  from  him,  but  he  once  said  that,  so  far  as 
he  knew,  only  about  one  sixth  of  all  those  which 
were  credited  to  him  had  ever  been  told  by  him. 
He  never  forgot  a  good  story,  and  his  apt  applica 


290  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

tion  of  those  which  lay  in  his  mind  gave  them  pecu 
liar  crispness  and  freshness.  Here  is  a  case  in 
point :  In  1863,  a  certain  captain  of  volunteers  was 
on  trial  in  Washington  for  a  misuse  of  the  funds  of 
his  company.  The  accused  officer  made  only  a  fee 
ble  defense,  and  seemed  to  treat  the  matter  with  in 
difference.  After  a  while,  however,  a  new  charge 
— that  of  disloyalty  to  the  government — came  into 
the  case.  The  accused  was  at  once  excited  to  a 
high  degree  of  indignation,  and  made  a  very  vigor 
ous  defense.  He  appeared  to  think  lightly  of  being 
convicted  of  embezzling,  but  to  be  called  a  traitor 
was  more  than  he  could  bear.  At  the  breakfast- 
table,  one  morning,  the  President,  who  had  been 
reading  an  account  of  this  case  in  the  newspaper, 
began  to  laugh,  and  said,  u  This  fellow  reminds  me 
of  a  juror  in  a  case  of  hen-stealing  which  I l  tried 
in  Illinois,  many  years  ago.  The  accused  man  was 
summarily  convicted.  After  adjournment  of  court, 
as  I  was  riding  to  the  next  town,  one  of  the  jurors 
in  the  case  came  cantering  up  behind  me,  and  com 
plimented  me  on  the  vigor  with  which  I  had  pressed 
the  prosecution  of  the  unfortunate  hen-thief.  Then 
he  added,  i  Why,  when  I  was  young,  and  my  back 
was  strong,  and  the  country  was  new,  I  did  n't  mind 
taking  off  a  sheep  now  and  then.  But  stealing 
hens  !  Oh,  Jerusalem ! '  Now,  this  captain  has  evi 
dently  been  stealing  sheep,  and  that  is  as  much  as 
he  can  bear." 

Scripture  stories  and  incidents  were  also  used  by 

1  The  writer  is  not  certain,  now,  whether  Mr.  Lincoln  told  this 
story  out  of  his  own  experience,  OP  at  second  hand.  The  applica 
tion,  of  course,  was  his  own. 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN^  TIME  291 

Lincoln  to  illustrate  his  argument  or  to  enforce  a 
point.  Judge  E had  been  concerned  in  a  cer 
tain  secret  organization  of  "radical"  Republicans, 
whose  design  was  to  defeat  Lincoln's  renomination. 
When  this  futile  opposition  had  died  out,  the  judge 
was  pressed  by  his  friends  for  a  profitable  office. 
Lincoln  appointed  him,  and  to  one  who  remon 
strated  against  such  a  display  of  magnanimity,  he 

replied,   "Well,  I   suppose   Judge  E ,  having 

been  disappointed  before,  did  behave  pretty  ugly ; 
but  that  would  n't  make  him  any  less  fit  for  this 
place ;  and  I  have  scriptural  authority  for  appoint 
ing  him.  You  remember  that  when  the  Lord  was 
on  Mount  Sinai  getting  out  a  commission  for  Aaron, 
that  same  Aaron  was  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain 
making  a  false  god  for  the  people  to  worship.  Yet 
Aaron  got  his  commission,  you  know." 

Lincoln  particularly  liked  a  joke  at  the  expense 
of  the  dignity  of  some  high  civil  or  military  official. 
One  day,  not  long  before  his  second  inauguration, 
he  asked  me  if  I  had  heard  about  Stanton's  meeting 
a  picket  on  Broad  River,  South  Carolina,  and  then 
told  this  story :  "  General  Foster,  then  at  Port  Royal, 
escorted  the  secretary  up  the  river,  taking  a  quar 
termaster's  tug.  Reaching  the  picket  lines  on  the 
river,  a  sentry  roared  from  the  bank,  '  Who  have 
you  got  on  board  that  tug  ? '  The  severe  and  dig 
nified  answer  was,  4  The  Secretary  of  War  and  Ma 
jor-General  Foster.'  Instantly  the  picket  roared 
back,  l  We  've  got  major-generals  enough  up  here 
— why  don't  you  bring  us  up  some  hard-tack?'" 
The  story  tickled  Lincoln  mightily,  and  he  told  it 
until  it  was  replaced  by  a  new  one. 


292  WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

Anything  that  savored  of  the  wit  and  humor  of 
the  soldiers  was  especially  welcome  to  Lincoln. 
His  fondness  for  good  stories  is  a  well-accepted  tra 
dition,  but  any  incident  that  showed  that  "the 
boys  "  were  mirthful  and  jolly  in  all  their  privations 
seemed  to  commend  itself  to  him.  He  used  to  say 
that  the  grim  grotesqueness  and  extravagance  of 
American  humor  were  its  most  striking  character 
istics.  There  was  a  story  of  a  soldier  in  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  carried  to  the  rear  of  battle  with 
both  legs  shot  off,  who,  seeing  a  pie-woman  hover 
ing  about,  asked,  "  Say,  old  lady,  are  them  pies 
sewed  or  pegged  1 "  And  there  was  another  one  of 
a  soldier  at  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  whose 
regiment,  waiting  to  be  called  into  the  fight,  was 
taking  coffee.  The  hero  of  the  story  put  to  his  lips 
a  crockery  mug  which  he  had  carried,  with  infinite 
care,  through  several  campaigns.  A  stray  bullet, 
just  missing  the  coffee-drinker's  head,  dashed  the 
mug  into  fragments,  and  left  only  its  handle  on  his 
finger.  Turning  his  face  in  that  direction,  the  sol 
dier  angrily  growled,  "  Johnny,  you  can't  do  that 
again ! "  Lincoln,  relating  these  two  stories  to 
gether,  said,  "  It  seems  as  if  neither  death  nor  dan 
ger  could  quench  the  grim  humor  of  the  American 
soldier." 

When  I  had  been  at  some  pains,  one  day,  to  show 
the  President  how  a  California  politician  had  been 
coerced  into  telling  the  truth  without  knowing  it, 
he  said  it  reminded  him  of  a  black  barber  in  Illi 
nois,  notorious  for  lying,  who,  hearing  some  of  his 
customers  admiring  the  planet  Jupiter,  then  shin 
ing  in  the  evening  sky,  said,  "  Sho,  I  've  seen  that 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  293 

star  afore.  I  seen  Mm  'way  down  in  Greorgy."  Said 
the  President,  "  Like  your  California  friend,  lie  told 
the  truth,  but  he  thought  he  was  lying." 

In  considering  Lincoln's  story-telling  habit,  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  he  never  told  a  story 
for  the  sake  of  the  telling ;  the  tale  came  into  his 
mind  as  an  apt  illustration  of  what  was  at  that  mo 
ment  under  discussion.  Thus  the  cry  for  reinforce 
ments  that  came  from  a  Union  general  whose 
whereabouts  had  been  anxiously  debated,  reminded 
him  of  an  Illinois  woman  who,  when  she  heard  the 
wail  of  one  of  her  offspring  in  the  underbrush  near 
her  cabin,  thanked  God  that  there  was  "one  who 
was  n't  dead  yet."  And  when  Hood's  army  in  Ten 
nessee  was  destroyed  by  Thomas,  in  December, 
1864,  the  President  told  this  story,  which  has  since 
been  often  related :  "  A  certain  rough,  rude,  and 
bullying  man  in  our  county  had  a  bull-dog,  which 
was  as  rude,  rough,  and  bullying  as  his  master.  Dog 
and  man  were  the  terror  of  the  neighborhood.  No 
body  dared  to  touch  either  for  fear  of  the  other. 
But  a  crafty  neighbor  laid  a  plan  to  dispose  of  the 
dog.  Seeing  Slocum  and  his  dog  plodding  along 
the  road  one  day,  the  dog  a  little  ahead,  this  neigh 
bor,  who  was  prepared  for  the  occasion,  took  from 
his  pocket  a  junk  of  meat  in  which  he  had  con 
cealed  a  big  charge  of  powder,  to  which  was  fas 
tened  a  deadwood  slow-match.  This  he  lighted,  and 
then  threw  into  the  road.  The  dog  gave  one  gulp 
at  it,  and  the  whole  thing  disappeared  down  his 
throat.  He  trotted  on  a  few  steps,  when  there  was 
a  sort  of  smothered  roar,  and  the  dog  blew  up  in 
fragments,  a  fore-quarter  being  lodged  in  a  neigh- 


294  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

boring  tree,  a  hind-quarter  on  the  roof  of  a  cabin, 
and  the  rest  scattered  along  the  dusty  road.  Slo- 
cum  came  up  and  viewed  the  remains.  Then,  more 
in  sorrow  than  in  anger,  he  said,  '  Bill  war  a  good 
dog ;  but,  as  a  dog,  I  reckon  his  usefulness  is  over.' " 
The  President  added,  with  a  twinkle  of  his  eye, 
"  Hood's  army  was  a  good  army.  We  have  been 
very  much  afraid  of  it.  But,  as  an  army,  I  reckon 
its  usefulness  is  gone." 

SOME   OF   HIS  LITEKABY  TENDENCIES 

IT  does  not  seem  that  Lincoln  had  a  nimble  fancy ; 
his  imagination  was  not  fertile ;  if  it  was,  he  took 
pains  to  keep  it  under ;  but  there  was  a  vein  of 
poetic  sentiment  which  appears  in  many  of  his  ear 
lier  writings  and  speeches.  When  the  poetical  tastes 
of  Lincoln  are  mentioned,  immediately  there  comes 
to  mind  that  depressing  and  bilious  poem,  "  Oh, 
why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud  1 "  Those 
verses,  with  their  lugubrious  refrain,  undoubtedly 
affected  Lincoln  strongly  on  the  tragic  side  of  his 
nature;  but  they  have  received  a  somewhat  ficti 
tious  value  as  an  expression  of  his  literary  taste. 
It  is  true,  however,  that  he  inclined  toward  the 
poetry  inspired  by  sad  and  pathetic  themes.  It  has 
been  said  that  this  was  a  sort  of  prophetic  indica 
tion  of  the  tragical  ending  of  his  own  life;  and 
some  have  thought  that  they  detected  in  "  the  far 
away  look  of  his  eyes "  the  gaze  of  one  who  was 
destined  to  a  violent  death.  It  is  not  likely  that 
such  thoughts  occurred  to  any  of  us  while  he  was 
yet  alive ;  they  are,  however,  the  most  natural  of 
afterthoughts. 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  295 

Like  many  men  who  have  a  keen  sense  of  humor, 
Lincoln  was  easily  moved  by  the  pathos  which  is 
so  nearly  allied  to  jocularity.  This  is  the  reason,  I 
suppose,  why  he  liked  best  the  minor  poems  of 
Thomas  Hood  and  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes.  Few 
men  ever  passed  from  grave  to  gay  with  the  facil 
ity  that  characterized  him.  He  liked,  too,  sad  and 
pensive  songs.  I  remember  that,  one  night  at 
the  White  House,  when  a  few  ladies  visiting  the 
family  were  singing  at  the  piano-forte,  he  asked  for 
a  little  song  in  which  the  writer  describes  his  sen 
sations  when  revisiting  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood, 
dwelling  mournfully  on  the  vanished  joys  and  the 
delightful  associations  of  forty  years  ago.  It  is  not 
likely  that  there  was  anything  in  Lincoln's  lost 
youth  that  he  would  wish  to  recall ;  but  there  was 
a  certain  melancholy  and  half -morbid  strain  in  that 
song  which  struck  a  responsive  chord  in  his  heart. 
The  lines  sunk  into  his  memory,  and  I  remember 
that  he  quoted  them,  as  if  to  himself,  long  after 
ward. 

Lincoln  seldom  quoted  poetry  in  his  letters  or 
speeches,  although  in  conversation  he  often  made 
an  allusion  to  something  which  he  had  read,  al 
ways  with  the  air  of  one  who  deprecated  the  impu 
tation  that  he  might  be  advertising  his  erudition. 
Occasionally,  as  in  his  farewell  speech  to  his  neigh 
bors  and  friends  in  Springfield,  he  employed  a 
commonplace  quotation,  with  due  credit  to  the  un 
known  author.  In  that  address  he  said,  "Let  us 
believe,  as  some  poet  has  expressed  it,  '  Behind  the 
cloud  the  sun  is  still  shining.'"  In  a  speech  in 
Congress,  on  so  unpromising  a  theme  as  internal 


296  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

improvements,  then  one  of  the  issues  of  the  time, 
he  quoted  Robert  Herrick's  lines : 

Attempt  the  end,  and  never  stand  to  doubt  j 
Nothing  ;s  so  hard  but  search  will  find  it  out. 

Another  example  occurs  in  an  address  made  to  a 
delegation  of  colored  men  who  had  waited  on  him 
to  obtain  an  expression  of  opinion  on  the  subject 
of  colonization.  The  President  spoke  at  some 
length,  and  concluded  by  saying  that  he  hoped 
that  his  visitors  would  consider  the  matter  seri 
ously,  not  for  themselves  alone,  nor  for  the  present 
generation,  but  for  the  good  of  mankind,  and  he 
added : 

From  age  to  age  descends  the  lay 

To  millions  yet  to  be, 
Till  far  its  echoes  roll  away 

Into  eternity. 

Amid  all  his  labors,  Lincoln  found  time  to  read 
the  newspapers,  or,  as  he  sometimes  expressed  it, 
"to  skirmish "  with  them.  From  their  ephemeral 
pages  he  rescued  many  a  choice  bit  of  verse,  which 
he  carried  with  him  until  he  was  quite  familiar  with 
it.  I  am  bound  to  say  that  some  of  these  waifs  would 
not  receive  the  hospitality  of  a  severe  literary  critic; 
but  it  was  noticeable  that  they  were  almost  invari 
ably  referable  to  his  tender  sympathy  with  human 
ity,  its  hopes  and  its  sorrows.  I  recall  one  of  these 
extracts,  which  he  took  out  of  his  pocket  one  after 
noon,  as  we  were  riding  out  to  the  Soldiers'  Home. 
It  began : 


WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME  297 

A  weaver  sat  at  his  loom, 
Flinging  his  shuttle  fast, 
Arid  a  thread  that  should  wear  till  the  hour  of 

doom 
Was  added  at  every  cast. 

The  idea  was  that  men  weave  in  their  own  lives 
the  garment  which  they  must  wear  in  the  world  to 
come.  I  do  not  know  who  wrote  the  verses;  but 
the  opening  lines  were  fixed  in  my  mind  by  their 
frequent  repetition  by  the  President,  who  seemed 
to  l)e  strongly  impressed  by  them.  During  the 
evening,  he  murmured  them  to  himself,  once  or 
twice,  as  if  in  a  soliloquy. 

I  think  it  was  early  in  the  war  that  some  public 
speaker  sent  Lincoln  a  newspaper  report  of  a  speech 
delivered  in  New  York.  The  President,  apparently, 
did  not  pay  much  attention  to  the  speech,  but  a  few 
lines  of  verse  at  the  close  caught  his  eye.  These 
were  the  closing  stanzas  of  Longfellow's  "  Building 
of  the  Ship,"  beginning  with : 

Thou  too,  sail  on,  O  Ship  of  State ! 
Sail  on,  O  Union,  strong  and  great ! 

To  my  surprise,  he  seemed  to  have  read  the  lines 
for  the  first  time.  Knowing  the  whole  poem  as 
one  of  my  youthful  exercises  in  recitation,  I  began, 
at  his  request,  with  the  description  of  the  launch  of 
the  ship,  and  repeated  it  to  the  end.  As  he  listened 
to  the  last  lines : 

Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears, 
Our  faith  triumphant  o'er  our  fears,  etc., 


298  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

his  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  his  cheeks  were  wet. 
He  did  not  speak  for  some  minutes,  but  finally  said, 
with  simplicity :  "  It  is  a  wonderful  gift  to  be  able 
to  stir  men  like  that."  It  is  quite  possible  that  he 
had  read  the  poem  long  before  the  war  for  the  Un 
ion  gave  to  the  closing  portion  that  depth  of  mean 
ing  which  it  held  for  him  and  now  holds  for  us. 

WHITING  AND  COMPOSITION 

LINCOLN  always  composed  slowly,  and  he  often 
wrote  and  rewrote  his  more  elaborate  productions 
several  times.  I  happened  to  be  with  him  of  ten  while 
he  was  composing  his  message  to  Congress,  which 
was  sent  in  while  Sherman  was  on  his  march  through 
Q-eorgia.  There  was  much  speculation  as  to  where 
Sherman  had  gone,  and  the  secret  was  very  well  pre 
served.  The  President  hoped,  from  day  to  day,  that 
Sherman  would  be  heard  from,  or  that  something 
would  happen  to  give  him  an  opportunity  to  enlighten 
"  and  possibly  congratulate  the  country,"  as  he  put 
it.  But  December  came,  and  there  were  no  tidings 
from  Sherman,  though  everybody  was  hungry  with 
expectation,  and  feverish  with  anxiety.  The  Presi 
dent's  message  was  first  written  with  pencil  on  stiff 
sheets  of  white  pasteboard,  or  boxboard,  a  good 
supply  of  which  he  kept  by  him.  These  sheets,  five 
or  six  inches  wide,  could  be  laid  on  the  writer's 
knee,  as  he  sat  comfortably  in  his  arm-chair,  in  his 
favorite  position,  with  his  legs  crossed.  One  night, 
taking  one  of  these  slips  out  of  his  drawer,  with  a 
great  affectation  of  confidential  secrecy,  he  said, 
"  I  expect  you  want  to  know  all  about  Sherman's 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  299 

raid  ? "  Naturally  I  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
when  he  said,  "  Well,  then,  I  '11  read  you  this  para 
graph  from  my  message."  The  paragraph,  how 
ever,  was  curiously  non-committal,  merely  referring 
to  "  General  Sherman's  attempted  march  of  three 
hundred  miles  directly  through  the  insurgent  re 
gion,"  and  gave  no  indication  whatever  of  the  di 
rection  of  the  march,  or  of  the  point  from  which 
news  from  him  was  expected.  Laying  the  paper  down, 
and  taking  off  his  spectacles,  the  President  laughed 
heartily  at  my  disappointment,  but  added,  kindly, 
"  Well,  my  dear  fellow,  that's  all  that  Congress  will 
know  about  it,  anyhow." 

He  took  a  simple-hearted  pleasure  in  considering 
some  of  his  best  "  hits."  Occasionally,  he  would  tell 
his  more  intimate  friends  of  a  sharp  saying  that 
he  had  uttered  during  that  day ;  and  once  he  wrote 
out  for  publication  an  account  of  an  interview 
which  he  had  just  had  with  two  ladies  who  had 
come  to  him  with  a  request  for  the  liberation  of 
their  husbands,  held  as  prisoners  of  war  in  Federal 
camps.  He  thought  he  "  had  got  the  best  of  the 
argument,"  he  said,  although  he  granted  the  peti 
tion  of  the  ladies.  In  that  writing,  I  remember,  he 
did  not  use  capital  letters  when  he  mentioned  the 
days  of  the  week ;  and  he  said  that  with  him  punc 
tuation  was  a  matter  of  feeling,  not  of  education. 
But  his  punctuation,  it  may  be  added,  was  always 
good,  and  he  was  addicted  to  what  the  printers  call 
"  close  punctuation."  Once  he  alluded  to  the  semi 
colon,  which  so  few  people  use  with  intelligence 
and  confidence,  as  "  a  very  useful  little  chap." 

As  a  rule,  Lincoln  wrote  his  most  important  let- 


300  WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

ters  with  his  own  hand.  Some  of  these — perhaps 
most  of  them — were  read  over  to  confidential  friends 
and  were  corrected,  or  modified,  before  being  sent. 
He  kept  copies  of  all  letters  of  moment,  and  even 
some  of  these  copies  he  made  himself  with  pains 
taking  care.  In  his  office  in  the  public  wing  of  the 
White  House  was  a  little  cabinet,  the  interior  di 
vided  into  pigeonholes.  The  pigeonholes  were 
lettered  in  alphabetical  order,  but  a  few  were  de 
voted  to  individuals.  Horace  Greeley,  I  remember, 
had  a  pigeonhole  by  himself ;  so  did  each  of  sev 
eral  generals  who  wrote  often  to  him.  One  com 
partment,  labeled  "  W.  &  W.,"  excited  my  curiosity, 
but  I  never  asked  what  it  meant,  and,  one  night, 
being  sent  to  the  cabinet  for  a  letter  which  the 
President  wanted,  he  said,  "I  see  you  looking  at 
my  '  W.  &  W.'  Can  you  guess  what  that  stands 
for  ?  "  Of  course  it  was  useless  to  guess.  "  Well," 
said  he,  with  a  merry  twinkle  of  the  eye,  "  that 's 
Weed  and  Wood—  Thurlow  and  Fernandy."  Then 
he  added  with  an  indescribable  chuckle,  "  That 's  a 
pair  of  'em!" 

Though  Lincoln  does  not  appear  to  have  used 
much  imagery  in  his  letters  and  speeches,  his  in 
numerable  good  sayings  were  pregnant  with  mean 
ing;  as  Emerson  has  said,  his  fables  were  so  wise 
that  in  an  earlier  time  he  would  have  been  a  my 
thological  character,  like  .^Esop.  His  parables  were 
similes.  His  figures  of  speech,  used  sparingly,  were 
homely  and  vigorous,  the  offspring  of  an  unculti 
vated  imagination,  rather  than  of  a  mind  stored 
with  the  thoughts  of  the  great  men  of  all  ages. 
The  simplest  incidents  of  every-day  life  furnished 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  301 

him  with  similes.  In  one  of  his  speeches  in  the 
famous  campaign  with  Douglas,  he  said,  referring 
to  the  suppression  of  political  debate,  "  These  pop 
ular  sovereigns  are  at  their  work,  blowing  out  the 
moral  lights  around  us."  This  figure  of  blowing  out 
the  lights  is  not  only  a  simple  one,  but  highly  sug 
gestive  of  the  homely  incident  which  was  in  the 
mind  of  the  speaker ;  an  affected  or  fastidious  per 
son  would  have  weakly  said,  "  extinguishing."  In 
the  same  way,  Lincoln  insisted  on  retaining  in  his 
first  annual  message  to  Congress  the  phrase  "sugar- 
coated  pills ; "  and  when  remonstrated  with  by  the 
public  printer,  John  D.  Defrees,  who  was  a  personal 
friend,  he  defended  his  use  of  the  figure  by  de 
claring  that  the  time  would  never  come  when  the 
American  people  would  not  know  what  a  sugar- 
coated  pill  was. 

His  earlier  addresses  showed,  perhaps,  more  use 
of  figures  of  speech  than  did  his  later  ones.  Criti 
cizing  that  part  of  President  Folk's  message  which 
referred  to  the  Mexican  war,  Lincoln,  then  a  repre 
sentative  in  Congress,  compared  it  to  "  the  half -in 
sane  mumbling  of  a  fever-dream."  In  the  same 
speech  he  described  military  glory  as  "  the  attrac 
tive  rainbow  that  rises  in  showers  of  blood;  the 
serpent's  eye  that  charms  to  destroy."  I  do  not  now 
recall  a  more  striking  picture,  drawn  by  Lincoln, 
than  this  description  of  the  helpless  state  of  the 
American  slave  in  1857.  "  They  have  him  in  his 
prison-house,"  said  he.  "  They  have  searched  his 
person  and  have  left  no  prying  instrument  with 
him.  One  after  another  they  have  closed  the  heavy 
iron  doors  upon  him,  and  now  they  have  him,  as  it 


302  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

were,  bolted  in  with  a  lock  of  a  hundred  keys,  which 
can  never  be  unlocked  without  the  concurrence  of 
every  key ;  the  keys  in  the  hands  of  a  hundred  dif 
ferent  men,  and  they  scattered  to  a  hundred  differ 
ent  and  distant  places ;  and  they  stand  musing  as 
to  what  invention,  in  all  the  dominions  of  mind  and 
matter,  can  be  produced  to  make  the  impossibility 
of  his  escape  more  complete  than  it  is." 

Lincoln  was  a  close  observer  of  nature,  as  well  as 
of  men.  He  used  natural  objects  to  complete  his 
similes.  Into  the  alembic  of  his  mind  everything 
was  received,  to  be  brought  forth  again  as  apho 
rism,  parable,  or  trenchant  saying.  In  woodcraft, 
for  example,  he  was  deeply  skilled,  his  habit  of  close 
observation  leading  him  to  detect  curious  facts 
which  escaped  the  notice  of  most  men.  Riding 
through  a  wood  in  Virginia,  he  observed  a  vine 
which  wrapped  a  tree  in  its  luxuriant  growth. 
"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  that  is  very  beautiful ;  but  that 
vine  is  like  certain  habits  of  men ;  it  decorates  the 
ruin  that  it  makes."  At  another  time,  when  we 
were  in  Virginia  together,  just  after  a  fall  of  snow, 
I  found  him  standing  on  the  stump  of  a  tree,  look 
ing  out  over  the  landscape.  He  called  attention  to 
various  subtle  features  of  the  view,  and  said,  among 
other  things,  that  he  liked  the  trees  best  when  they 
were  not  in  leaf,  as  their  anatomy  could  then  be 
studied.  And  he  bade  me  look  at  the  delicate  yet 
firm  outline  of  a  leafless  tree  against  the  sky.  Then, 
pointing  to  the  fine  net-work  of  shadows  cast 
on  the  snow  by  the  branches  and  twigs,  he  said 
that  that  was  the  profile  of  the  tree.  The  very  next 
day,  somebody  was  discussing  with  him  the  differ- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  303 

ence  between  character  and  reputation,  when  he 
said, — with  a  look  as  if  to  remind  me  of  what  he 
had  been  talking  about  the  day  before, — perhaps  a 
man's  character  was  like  a  tree,  and  his  reputation 
like  its  shadow ;  the  shadow  is  what  we  think  of  it ; 
the  tree  is  the  real  thing. 

Perhaps  his  exceeding  plainness  of  speech  de 
tracted  somewhat  from  the  real  depth  of  his  thought, 
but  he  was  acute  rather  than  profound ;  and  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  those  who  were  nearest  him 
during  the  last  years  of  his  life  were  impressed  by 
the  swiftness  and  the  correctness  of  his  intuitions, 
rather  than  by  the  originality  and  profundity  of  his 
reasoning.  Some  of  the  more  radical  members  of 
his  party  were  impatient  with  his  "  exasperating 
slowness  " ;  but  I  never  heard  any  one  criticize  him 
for  lack  of  speed  in  arriving  at  a  rational  conclu 
sion  when  he  had  once  undertaken  an  argument  on 
any  subject  whatever. 

We  were  once  talking  about  woodcraft,  and  the 
President  said  that,  although  he  had  had  undue 
credit  for  rail-splitting,  he  did  know  how  to  fell 
a  tree ;  and  he  gave  an  entertaining  disquisition  on 
the  art,  illustrated  by  examples  before  us.  He  said 
that  he  did  not  remember  splitting  many  rails  in 
his  life.  In  fact,  rail-fences  were  not  in  his  line  at 
all ;  but  he  was  proud,  he  said,  of  his  record  as  a 
woodsman.  Somebody  reminded  him  that  he  had 
authenticated  some  rails  as  of  his  splitting,  during 
the  Lincoln  and  Hamlin  campaign.  "  No,  I  did  n't," 
he  replied.  "  They  brought  those  rails  in  where  I 
was,  with  a  great  hurrah,  and  what  I  did  say  was 
that  if  I  ever  split  any  rails  on  the  piece  of  ground 


304  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

that  those  rails  came  from  (and  I  was  not  sure 
whether  I  had  or  not),  I  was  sure  that  those  were 
the  rails." 

In  private  conversation  Lincoln  manifested  a  sin 
gular  reluctance  to  speak  of  himself  as  president, 
or  to  mention  the  office  with  any  sort  of  personal 
reference  to  himself.  He  always  used  the  phrase, 
"  since  I  came  into  this  place,7'  instead  of  saying, 
"  since  I  became  president."  The  war  he  usually 
spoke  of  as  "  this  great  trouble,"  and  he  seldom 
alluded  to  the  enemy  as  "  Confederates,"  or  "  the 
Confederate  government,"  but  he  used  the  word 
"  rebel "  in  his  talk  and  in  his  letters. 

LINCOLN,    EVERETT,   AND   AGASSIZ 

THEKE  was,  sometimes,  a  curious  inconsistency 
between  Lincoln's  public  and  private  utterances. 
Not  long  after  Edward  Everett's  death,  he  referred 
to  that  event  as  a  public  loss.  On  the  evening  of 
the  day  when  the  news  of  the  death  reached  Wash 
ington,  I  was  at  the  White  House,  and  the  conver 
sation  naturally  fell  upon  that  topic.  Lincoln  said, 
"Now,  you  are  a  loyal  New  Englander, — loyal  to 
New  England, —  what  great  work  of  Everett's  do 
you  remember  ? "  I  was  forced  to  say  that  I  could 
not  recall  any.  The  President  persisted  and  wanted 
to  know  if  I  could  not  recollect  any  great  speech. 
Not  receiving  satisfaction,  he  said,  looking  around 
the  room  in  his  half -comical  fashion,  as  if  afraid  of 
being  overheard,  "  Now,  do  you  know,  I  think  Ed 
ward  Everett  was  very  much  overrated.  He  has  n't 
left  any  enduring  monument.  But  there  was  one 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  305 

speech  in  which,  addressing  a  statue  of  John  Adams 
and  a  picture  of  Washington,  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Bos 
ton,  he  apostrophized  them  and  said,  4  Teach  us  the 
love  of  liberty  protected  by  law ! '  That  was  very 
fine,  it  seems  to  me.  Still,  it  was  only  a  good  idea, 
introduced  by  noble  language." 

Continuing  his  discussion  of  Everett,  he  referred 
to  his  celebrated  address  on  Washington,  which 
was  delivered  through  the  South,  as  if  in  the  hope 
that  the  rising  storm  of  the  rebellion  might  be 
quelled  by  this  oratorical  oil  on  the  waters.  Lin 
coln  recalled  a  story  told  of  Everett's  manner.  It 
was  necessary,  in  his  Washington  oration,  to  relate 
an  anecdote  accompanied  by  the  jingle  of  coin  in 
the  lecturer's  pocket.  This  was  done  at  each  of  the 
five  hundred  repetitions  of  the  address,  in  the  same 
manner,  and  with  unvarying  accuracy.  When  gold 
and  silver  disappeared  from  circulation,  Mr.  Ever 
ett  procured  and  kept  for  this  purpose  a  few  coins 
with  which,  and  a  bunch  of  keys,  the  usual  effect 
was  produced.  "  And  I  am  told,"  added  Lincoln, 
"  that  whenever  Mr.  Everett  delivered  that  lecture, 
he  took  along  those  things.  They  were  what,  I 
believe,  the  theatrical  people  would  call  his  '  prop 
erties.'  " 

While  this  talk  was  going  on,  the  cards  of  Con 
gressman  Hooper  and  Professor  Agassiz  were 
brought  in  by  a  servant.  "  Agassiz ! "  exclaimed 
the  President  with  great  delight,  "  I  never  met  him 
yet,  and  Hooper  promised  to  bring  him  up  to-night." 
I  rose  to  go,  when  he  said,  "  Don't  go,  don't  go.  Sit 
down,  and  let  us  see  what  we  can  pick  up  that 's 
new  from  this  great  man." 


306  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME 

The  conversation,  however,  was  not  very  learned. 
The  President  and  the  savant  seemed  like  two  boys 
who  wanted  to  ask  questions  which  appeared  com 
monplace,  but  were  not  quite  sure  of  each  other. 
Each  man  was  simplicity  itself.  Lincoln  asked  for 
the  correct  pronunciation  and  derivation  of  Agas- 
siz's  name,  and  both  men  prattled  on  about  curious 
proper  names  in  various  languages,  and  odd  cor 
respondences  between  names  of  common  things  in 
different  tongues.  Agassiz  asked  Lincoln  if  he 
ever  had  engaged  in  lecturing  in  his  life.  Lincoln 
gave  the  outline  of  a  lecture  which  he  had  partly 
written,  to  show  the  origin  of  inventions,  and  prove 
that  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun.  "  I  think 
I  can  show,"  said  he,  "  at  least,  in  a  fanciful  way, 
that  all  the  modern  inventions  were  known  centu 
ries  ago."  Agassiz  begged  that  Lincoln  would  fin 
ish  the  lecture  some  time.  Lincoln  replied  that  he 
had  the  manuscript  somewhere  in  his  papers,  "  and," 
said  he,  "  when  I  get  out  of  this  place,  I  '11  finish 

it  up,  perhaps,  and  get  my  friend  B to  print  it 

somewhere."  The  fragment,  for  it  is  little  else,  was 
found  among  his  papers  after  his  death,  and  was 
printed  by  his  literary  executors,  Messrs.  Nicolay 
and  Hay. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  LAST  GRAND  REVIEW 

A  STRIKING  AND  MEMORABLE  MILITARY  PAGEANT  —  THE 
FINAL  MARCH  OF  GRANT'S  AND  SHERMAN'S  ARMIES 
THROUGH  THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL  —  SOME  OF  THE 
FEATURES  OF  THE  PARADE  —  A  NOTE  OF  PEACE  AT 
LAST 

THE  city  of  Washington,  so  often  wrung  with 
grief,  and  so  often  delirious  with  hope  and  joy, 
during  those  memorable  years  of  war,  saw  a  noble 
and  inspiring  sight  on  the  twenty-third  and  twenty- 
fourth  days  of  May,  in  1865.  This  was  when  we 
witnessed  the  farewell  march  through  the  National 
capital  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  soldiers,  who  were  welcomed  with  an  enthusi 
asm  impossible  of  description,  as  they  passed 
through  the  city  which  for  the  time  being  might 
have  been  regarded  as  being  the  heart  of  the  nation. 
It  was  a  noble  sight  to  see ;  and  it  is  not  altogether 
certain  that  the  pride  and  joy  of  the  soldiers  ready 
to  be  mustered  out  at  last  were  any  greater  than 
the  pride  and  joy  of  the  citizens  who  regarded  with 
affectionate  admiration  this  brave  array.  On  the 
first  day  was  reviewed  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 

307 


308  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN^  TIME 

General  Meade  commanding ;  and  the  second  day 
saw  the  march-past  of  the  famous  Army  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  commanded  by  General  Sherman. 

It  was  a  notable  event,  and  people  came  from 
every  part  of  the  United  States  to  look  upon  the 
passing  pageant.  Never  in  the  history  of  Wash 
ington  had  there  been  such  an  enormous  influx  of 
visitors  as  at  that  time.  For  weeks  there  had  been 
so  vast  a  volume  of  applications  for  accommodations 
at  the  hotels  and  boarding-houses  that  every  avail 
able  nook  and  corner  had  been  taken.  Governors 
and  other  state  functionaries,  congressmen,  and 
private  citizens  from  even  distant  cities  desired  to 
look  at  last  upon  the  grand  armies  now  about  to 
dissolve.  So  great  was  the  number  of  visitors  that 
many  were  obliged  to  spend  the  night  in  the  open 
air,  sleeping  on  park  benches,  or  walking  the  streets. 
The  mild  summer  weather  of  Washington  softened 
these  discomforts  to  the  houseless  and  determined 
patriots. 

Along  the  route  of  the  great  march  stands  were 
built  by  the  Government  or  by  the  District  authori 
ties,  and  in  some  instances  by  private  individuals ; 
so  that,  from  the  Capitol  to  the  White  House,  Penn 
sylvania  avenue  presented  a  well-nigh  unbroken 
mass  of  seats,  rising  rank  above  rank  along  the 
line  of  march,  decorated  with  the  national  colors, 
and  filled  with  joyful  and  enthusiastic  crowds  of 
men,  women,  and  children.  The  city  had  ordered 
a  closing  of  the  schools  for  these  two  days,  and 
one  of  the  charming  features  of  the  great  occasion 
was  the  massing  of  the  children,  in  gay  attire,  on 
the  steps  and  platforms  of  the  massive  porticos  and 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME  309 

terraces  of  the  northern  end  of  the  capitol.  The 
little  folks  greeted  the  returning  soldiers  with 
bursts  of  patriotic  song  and  the  waving  of  minia 
ture  flags,  to  which  the  men  in  the  ranks  responded 
with  cheers,  many  a  father  doubtless  looking  up 
with  moistened  eyes  to  the  childish  throngs  with 
thoughts  of  homes  to  which  they  were  now  return 
ing  after  long  absence  in  perilous  campaigns. 

The  main  point  of  attraction  was  the  part  of 
Pennsylvania  avenue  which  is  nearest  the  White 
House.  There  were  built  several  covered  stands 
for  the  comfortable  accommodation  of  some  ten  or 
fifteen  thousand  people ;  the  central  space  being 
designed  for  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
members  of  his  cabinet,  heads  of  departments, 
military  officers  of  the  highest  rank,  and  the  diplo 
matic  corps.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  avenue 
were  stands  for  use  of  congressmen,  the  Federal 
judiciary,  the  press,  and  invited  guests.  A  com 
modious  stand  had  been  built  near  here,  too,  by  a 
public-spirited  Bostonian,  at  his  own  expense,  for 
the  exclusive  use  of  crippled  and  convalescent  sol 
diers.  These  disabled  heroes  filled  the  structure, 
and  it  was  impossible  to  regard  without  emotion 
the  continual  exchange  of  cheers  between  the 
scarred  veterans  and  their  returning  comrades. 

The  weather  was  absolutely  perfect  on  both  the 
days  of  the  grand  review ;  all  the  conditions,  bar 
ring  the  painful  memories  which  even  this  inspir 
ing  sight  recalled  to  many  minds,  were  complete 
for  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  people's  holiday. 
Two  days  of  rain  had  cooled  the  air  and  laid  the 
dust;  and  the  streets  of  Washington,  not  always 


20* 


310  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

clean,  were  pleasant  to  march  through.  The  air 
was  bright,  clear,  and  invigorating;  as  far  as  the 
eye  conld  reach  along  the  wide  avenues  through 
which  the  armed  hosts  moved  with  measured  tread 
there  was  a  blaze  of  color.  Flags,  banners,  stream 
ers,  and  all  imaginable  forms  of  patriotic  device 
were  lavishly  spread  to  the  air.  The  home-coming 
of  the  armies  had  been  the  signal  for  the  removal 
of  the  somber  badges  of  mourning  that  for  more 
than  a  month  had  marked  the  grief  of  the  city 
over  the  death  of  the  beloved  Lincoln.  Looking 
over  the  canopy  of  the  reviewing  stand  opposite 
that  in  which  I  sat,  one  could  see  that  the  flag  on 
the  White  House,  for  the  first  time  since  the  fif 
teenth  of  April,  was  no  longer  at  half-mast. 

In  the  center  of  the  reviewing  stand  nearest  the 
White  House  grounds  was  seated  President  An 
drew  Johnson ;  on  his  right  were  Secretary  Stan- 
ton,  General  Grant,  and  Attorney-General  Speed ; 
and  on  his  left  were  General  Meade,  Secretary 
Welles,  Postmaster-General  Dennison,  and  Generals 
Sherman,  Barnard,  and  Meigs.  Behind  these  were 
Secretary  McCulloch,  Secretary  Harlan,  and  a  group 
of  military  notables.  On  the  higher  platform  be 
hind  were  the  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  in 
full  ceremonial  costume,  and  in  the  stands  at  the 
right  and  left  of  that  occupied  by  the  President 
and  other  dignitaries  were  military,  naval,  and 
civil  functionaries  by  the  hundreds.  Among  these 
one  noted  the  fine  figure  and  handsome  face  of 
General  W.  S.  Hancock ;  he  was  often  recognized 
and  cheered  by  the  passing  soldiery,  as  well  as  by 
civilian  spectators.  As  each  army  corps  passed 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  311 

the  President's  stand,  the  commander  of  the  corps 
took  his  seat  by  the  side  of  President  Johnson. 
The  cavalry,  a  mighty  cavalcade,  occupied  a  full 
hour  in  passing.  The  clatter  of  hoofs,  the  clank 
of  sabers,  and  the  shrill  call  of  bugles  resounding 
on  the  air  invested  this  favorite  arm  of  the  service 
with  something  of  that  romance  with  which  our 
people  usually  regard  it.  And  a  striking  incident 
ushered  in  the  march  past  of  the  corps.  Suddenly 
dashed  upon  the  scene,  while  the  pavement  was  clear 
and  the  spectators  were  watching  for  the  first  ap 
pearance  of  General  Wesley  Merritt's  forces,  a 
splendid  blooded  charger,  covered  with  foam,  wildly 
plunging  and  galloping,  and  ridden  by  a  young 
major-general.  His  stirrups  were  loose,  his  empty 
scabbard  clattered  behind  him,  his  long  yellow 
curls  were  flying  in  the  wind,  but  his  sabre  was 
gallantly  carried  at  salute  as  he  fled  by.  This  was 
the  dashing  Ouster,  whose  horse,  frightened  at  a 
tremendous  wreath  of  flowers  flung  over  his  head 
by  some  indiscreet  admirer,  was  for  a  few  minutes 
beyond  the  control  of  his  rider.  There  was  an  ir 
repressible  burst  of  cheers  from  the  spectators  as 
the  scared  steed  flashed  past,  and  "  Ouster ! "  "  Ous 
ter  ! "  "  Ouster  ! "  flew  from  lip  to  lip.  Shortly, 
curbing  his  horse,  the  gallant  young  cavalryman 
rode  back  again — a  beautiful  figure,  lithe,  graceful, 
and  every  inch  a  soldier,  saluting  again  as  he  re- 
passed  the  President  and  took  his  place  at  the  head 
of  his  division,  which  now  came  up  and  passed  in 
review.  General  Merritt  commanded  the  cavalry 
corps,  General  Sheridan  having  departed  to  his 
new  command  in  the  Southwest. 


312  WASHINGTON  IN   LINCOLN'S   TIME 

After  the  cavalry,  which  made  a  picturesque  and 
brilliant  spectacle,  came  the  mounted  artillery  of 
the  regular  army,  nine  batteries  in  all,  Colonel  Eob- 
ertson  commanding.  The  glitter  of  their  equip 
ments,  the  gleam  of  their  polished  cannon,  the 
champing  and  tramping  of  their  fine  horses,  and 
the  soldierly  appearance  of  the  men,  made  this  an 
impressive  feature  of  the  great  parade.  Next  came 
the  Provost-Marshal's  guard, — two  regiments  of 
cavalry,  and  the  Third  and  Tenth  United  States 
Infantry,  General  Macy  commanding.  The  Engi 
neer  Brigade,  commanded  by  General  Benham,  was 
a  corps  that  roused  the  enthusiasm  and  gratified  the 
curiosity  of  the  multitudes  as  it  marched  past,  with 
pioneers  bearing  the  implements  of  their  branch  of 
the  service,  and  hauling  with  them  the  pontoons, 
boats,  and  other  appliances  required  on  the  march 
to  battle,  but  seldom  seen  in  a  holiday  military 
show. 

The  Ninth  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
formerly  Burnside's,  was  headed  by  General  John 
G.  Parke.  This  corps  was  one  of  the  most  splen 
didly  equipped  and  best  drilled  in  the  first  day's 
parade ;  the  regiments  appeared  in  fine  order,  march 
ing  "  company  front,"  with  arms  at  right-shoulder- 
shift  until  just  before  reaching  the  President's  stand, 
when  they  were  brought  to  shoulder-arms  with  a 
military  precision  that  evoked  a  great  roar  of  ap 
plause  from  the  admiring  thousands  who  looked 
on.  Each  brigade  of  infantry  was  accompanied  by 
six  ambulances,  three  abreast,  and  the  rear  of  the 
corps  was  brought  up  by  a  brigade  of  artillery. 
Almost  no  break  occurred  in  the  line  of  march,  and 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  313 

the  passing  troops  were  halted  but  once,  and  that 
for  a  brief  moment  in  front  of  the  main  reviewing 
stand. 

After  the  Ninth  came  the  Fifth  Corps,  General 
Charles  Griffin  in  command.  Many  of  the  specta 
tors  turned  their  eyes  involuntarily  toward  Warren, 
who  had  only  recently  been  relieved  of  his  com 
mand,  and  who  was  seen,  recognized,  and  uproari 
ously  cheered  by  the  men  of  the  Fifth  as  they 
marched  by.  The  affection  and  admiration  of  those 
cheers  were  unmistakable,  whatever  may  have  been 
thought  of  the  infraction  of  military  discipline 
which  was  thus  committed.  A  vivid  bit  of  color, 
giving  a  pictorial  effect  to  the  show,  was  the  ap 
pearance  of  four  regiments  of  Zouaves  in  the  First 
Brigade,  Second  Division,  of  this  corps.  These 
were  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Pennsyl 
vania,  the  Fifth  New  York,  the  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-sixth,  and  the  One  Hundred  and  Fortieth 
New  York.  They  were  splendid  in  appearance; 
their  marching  was  perfect,  and  the  men  were  all 
well  formed  and  muscular ;  their  gay  uniforms  and 
unique  dress  gave  a  pleasant  relief  in  the  general 
monotony  of  color  that  pervaded  the  ranks  of  the 
marching  armies.  The  Second  Corps,  commanded 
by  General  A.  A.  Humphreys,  brought  up  the  rear 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  the  Sixth,  under 
General  H.  G.  Wright,  not  being  near  enough  at 
hand  to  take  part  in  the  review.  It  was,  however,  re 
viewed  separately  June  8, 1865.  The  First,  Second, 
and  Third  Divisions  of  the  Second  Corps  were  com 
manded  by  Ramsey,  Barlow,  and  Mott  respectively : 
and  in  the  First  Division  was  the  famous  Irish 


314  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

Brigade,  Nugent  commanding,  composed  of  the 
Sixty-ninth  New  York,  the  Twenty-eighth  Massa 
chusetts,  the  Eighty-eighth  New  York,  the  Fourth 
New  York  Artillery  (equipped  as  infantry),  and  the 
Sixty-third  New  York.  Every  soldier  and  every 
officer  wore  a  sprig  of  green  in  his  hat,  and  the 
regimental  colors  had  the  emerald-green  ground, 
the  sunburst,  and  the  harp  of  Erin.  These  em 
blems  and  the  men  who  bore  them  were  loudly 
cheered  all  along  the  line ;  we  could  hear  the  great 
roar  of  the  people  long  before  the  regiments  reached 
us.  Generally  speaking,  it  was  noticeable  that  the 
applause  and  the  cheering  were  less  frequent  at  the 
grand  stands  where  the  dignitaries  were  assembled 
than  at  other  places  along  the  line  where  the  multi 
tude  was  enjoying  itself  in  its  own  free-and-easy 
fashion. 

On  the  stand  where  I  sat  it  was  entertaining  to 
watch  the  movements  of  many  governors  of  states, 
who  made  it  their  business  to  "  rally  "  whenever  a 
regiment  from  their  own  pridef ul  community  came 
marching  by.  Governor  John  A.  Andrew  of  Massa 
chusetts  was  one  of  those  who,  bubbling  over  with 
enthusiasm,  started  volleys  of  cheers  for  regiments 
from  the  Eastern  States ;  and  Governor  Fenton  of 
New  York  was  always  prepared  to  "  give  a  hand " 
to  the  boys  in  blue  who  represented  by  the  thou 
sands  the  Empire  State  in  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac.  There  was  an  occasional  good-humored  laugh 
when  a  New  York  militia  officer,  who  never  saw 
service  in  the  field,  put  himself  conspicuously  in 
evidence  with  his  elaborate  uniform  and  military 
gear,  proposing  cheers  for  favorite  regiments. 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  315 

It  was  noticeable  that  the  commanders  of  divi 
sions  and  corps  were  not,  for  the  most  part,  men  of 
an  elderly  appearance.  Meade,  Benham,  and  Hum 
phreys  were  the  only  exceptions  to  this  rule ;  almost 
all  the  other  general  officers  being  youthful  of  look. 
Another  notable  feature  of  the  parade  was  the  few 
ness  of  the  field  officers;  companies  were  com 
manded  by  lieutenants  who  had  taken  the  places 
of  captains  temporarily  commanding  regiments; 
and  colonels  led  brigades.  This  was  an  expressive 
reminder  of  the  sorrowful  mortality  that  had  laid 
low  so  many  gallant  officers  leading  their  men  in 
desperate  charges  on  the  field  of  battle. 

There  were  many  inquiries  why  there  were  no 
colored  troops  in  line ;  at  that  time  the  negro  troops 
were  being  massed  at  City  Point,  Virginia,  prepar 
atory  to  being  sent  to  Sheridan's  new  command  in 
the  Southwest.  Those  troops  would  doubtless  have 
had  a  rousing  welcome  in  Washington ;  for  in  those 
days  men  recognized  in  the  tardily  enlisted  freed- 
men  something  very  like  the  last  hope  of  the  dis 
traught  and  long-harassed  republic. 

The  general  regret  that  Sheridan  was  not  "on 
view  "  with  the  other  famous  generals  was  marked, 
and  significant  of  his  vast  popularity.  Sherman's 
appearance  on  the  grand  stand  was  the  signal  for 
a  tremendous  outburst  of  applause  from  those  who 
gazed  upon  the  brilliant  group,  with  cheer  upon 
cheer.  The  redoubtable  warrior  returned  these 
salutes  with  grim  composure.  At  that  time  the 
public  was  agog  over  the  dispute  that  had  arisen 
between  the  General  and  the  Secretary  of  War  on 
account  of  Sherman's  terms  of  agreement  for  the 


316  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

surrender  of  the  Confederate  forces  under  General 
Jos.  E.  Johnston.  People  who  disliked  Stanton 
(and  these  were  many)  had  hoped  and  expected 
that  Sherman  would  treat  him  with  marked  disre 
spect  when  they  met.  I  sat  in  the  stand  opposite 
that  of  the  presidential  party,  between  Senator 
Conness  of  California  and  Senator  Wilson  of  Mas 
sachusetts  ;  and  when  Sherman,  removing  his  hat, 
emerged  upon  the  platform  from  the  crowd  near 
the  President,  Senator  Wilson  excitedly  said:  "Now 
let  us  watch  Sherman ;  people  think  he  will  affront 
Stanton,  whom  he  has  n't  met  yet."  We  trained  our 
field-glasses  on  the  group  and  saw  Stanton  extend 
his  hand  to  Sherman,  who,  after  saluting  the  Presi 
dent,  approached  the  Secretary  of  War.  At  our 
distance  from  the  party  in  the  grand  stand,  we 
could  not  hear  whether  any  words  were  spoken; 
but  we  could  see  that  Sherman,  declining  Stanton's 
greeting,  firmly  placed  his  right  hand  by  his  side 
with  a  very  slight  gesture.  Stanton's  face,  never 
very  expressive,  remained  immobile.  Sherman,  as 
he  turned  his  attention  to  the  troops  passing  by, 
looked  grimmer  than  ever,  and  a  dark-red  scar,  the 
mark  of  a  recent  slight  accident,  imparted  to  his 
visage  a  certain  sinister  expression  which  rather 
heightened  the  effect  of  this  little  episode.  Some 
have  said  that  Sherman  put  his  hands  behind  him, 
and  at  the  same  time  made  a  curt  remark  as  he  put 
aside  the  greeting  proffered  by  Stanton. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  on  its  grand  review, 
left  outside  of  the  city  a  great  number  of  men  in 
charge  of  camps,  and  many  unarmed  and  dis 
mounted  men ;  but  there  were  in  line  on  that  beau- 


WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME  317 

tiful  May  day  eighty  thousand  fighting  men.  There 
were  twenty-nine  regiments  of  cavalry,  thirty-three 
batteries  of  artillery,  one  hundred  and  eighty  regi 
ments  of  infantry,  and  numerous  brilliant  staffs  of 
division  and  corps  commanders. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  review,  the  Army  of  the 
Mississippi  made  its  first  and  last  appearance  in 
Washington:  its  victorious  leader,  Sherman,  the 
idol  of  the  hour,  and  more  than  ever  admired  after 
his  bout  with  the  great  War  Secretary,  stood,  at 
last,  in  the  city  whose  political  atmosphere  he  so 
much  abhorred.  The  divisions  of  his  army  were 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  which  formed  the  right 
wing,  and  was  commanded  by  General  John  A. 
Logan,  who  had  lately  succeeded  General  O.  O. 
Howard,  the  newly-appointed  chief  of  the  Freed- 
men's  Bureau,  and  the  Army  of  Georgia,  or  the  left 
wing,  commanded  by  General  H.  W.  Slocum.  Of 
these  grand  subdivisions,  the  Army  of  the  Tennes 
see  was  composed  of  ninety-four  regiments  of  in 
fantry;  that  of  Georgia  had  eighty-six  regiments, 
and  a  full  complement  of  artillery,  and  a  smaller 
contingent  of  cavalry.  These  forces  aggregated 
about  70,000.  The  Army  of  the  Ohio,  made  up  of 
the  Tenth  and  Twenty-third  Corps,  commanded  by 
General  John  M.  Schofield,  had  been  left  in  North 
Carolina,  and  did  not  participate  in  the  review. 

With  military  precision,  as  the  church  clocks 
chimed  nine  in  the  morning,  General  Sherman  ap 
peared  at  the  head  of  his  armies,  accompanied  by 
General  O.  O.  Howard,  the  gorgeously  arrayed  staffs 
of  the  two  generals  streaming  out  behind  them,  a 
shining  spectacle.  Sherman  was  a  skilful  horse- 


318  WASHINGTON    IN    LINCOLN'S    TIME 

man,  but  his  spirited  steed,  a  powerful  beast,  gave 
him  all  he  could  do  to  manage  him.  The  com 
mander  saluted  the  President  with  impassive  face, 
and  Howard,  who  guided  his  horse  by  the  stump  of 
his  amputated  arm,  did  the  same;  then  the  two 
officers,  having  passed  the  reviewing  stand,  dis 
mounted,  and  took  up  their  stations  with  the  re 
viewing  party.  There  was  something  almost  fierce 
in  the  fever  of  enthusiasm  roused  by  the  sight  of 
Sherman.  Volleys  of  cheers,  prolonged  and  loud, 
rose  from  the  crowd;  a  multitude  of  small  flags 
waved  from  the  reviewing  stands,  and  wreaths  and 
bouquets  of  flowers  flew  thick  and  fast  through  the 
air.  In  the  group  of  notable  men  on  the  grand 
stand,  Sherman  was  certainly  the  most  notable  in 
appearance.  His  head  was  high  and  narrow,  his 
hair  and  whiskers  were  sandy  in  hue,  his  moustache 
stiff  and  bristling,  and  his  eyes  keen  and  piercing. 
He  was  very  tall,  walked  with  an  immense  stride, 
talked  rapidly  and  nervously,  and  would  be  picked 
out  in  any  assemblage  as  a  man  of  distinction.  All 
eyes  were  fastened  upon  his  striking  countenance, 
the  vast  multitude  gazing  with  a  certain  rapture 
at  the  famous  man  whom  they  now  saw  for  the  first 
time. 

There  was,  of  course,  a  great  deal  of  popular  cu 
riosity  to  see  the  Western  soldiers  who  had  marched 
from  Atlanta  to  the  sea,  and  through  the  Carolinas 
and  Virginia  to  Washington.  Everybody  welcomed 
with  glad  acclaim  to  the  national  capital  these  he 
roes  who  now,  for  the  first  time  since  they  had  been 
in  the  military  service  of  the  country,  saw  its  seat 
of  government.  Comparisons  between  the  Eastern 


WASHINGTON   IN   LINCOLN'S  TIME  319 

and  the  Western  men  were  made  at  once.  It  was 
observed  that  the  Western  men  wore  a  more  free- 
and-easy  uniform,  generally  adopting  the  loose  blue 
blouse  and  the  sugar-loaf-shaped  felt  hat,  rather 
than  the  close-fitting  coat  and  natty  French  kepi  of 
the  Eastern  soldiers  who  had  marched  before  us  in 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  But  nothing  could  be 
more  perfect  than  their  marching  order,  each  rank 
stepping  out  as  one  man.  As  a  rule,  the  Western 
ers  were  of  larger  build  than  their  brothers  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac ;  and  they  were  so  allotted 
in  the  ranks  that  each  company  front  presented  a 
line  of  uniform  height,  the  tallest  men  in  the  front. 
As  each  brigade  reached  the  President's  stand, 
its  band  and  drum  corps  swung  around  opposite 
the  reviewing  officer,  who  had  taken  his  place  by 
the  President,  and  played  until  the  rear  came  up, 
and  then  fell  in,  giving  place  to  the  next  brigade 
band.  In  this  way,  there  was  always  good  march 
ing  music  at  the  reviewing  stand,  adding  greatly 
to  the  fine  effect  of  the  military  spectacle  of  passing 
troops.  Great  praise  was  given  to  the  Fifteenth 
Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  commanded 
by  General  W.  B.  Hazen,  and  made  up  of  troops 
from  Iowa,  Missouri,  Minnesota,  Michigan,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  and  Ohio.  This  magnificent  body  of  men 
was  generally  regarded  as  comprising  some  of  the 
very  best  types  of  the  Western  fighting  man  ;  their 
free,  swinging  stride,  their  boldness  of  bearing,  and 
their  powerful  physique,  were  certainly  highly  im 
pressive,  and  extorted  the  unstinted  admiration  of 
the  onlookers,  who  saw  many  regiments  and  bri 
gades  made  famous  during  the  long  struggle  in  the 


320  WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME 

Southwest  long  before  the  review  in  the  national 
capital  was  even  so  much  as  thought  of. 

The  Seventeenth  Corps,  which  immediately  fol 
lowed  the  Fifteenth,  was  composed  of  troops  from 
the  States  above  mentioned,  and  included  one  regi 
ment  from  the  State  of  New  Jersey.  In  this  corps, 
too,  were  many  Wisconsin  men — splendid  speci 
mens  of  humanity,  tall,  well-made,  and  marching 
with  the  stride  and  cadence  step  which  were  so 
marked  a  feature  of  the  Westerners.  The  long  legs 
and  the  long  marches  of  Sherman's  men,  it  was 
said,  gave  the  army  that  peculiar  and  impressive 
appearance  in  the  line  of  parade.  General  Frank 
P.  Blair,  Jr.,  rode  at  the  head  of  this  noble  corps ; 
and  he  looked  stouter  and  browner  than  when  he 
was  in  Congress.  He  was  frantically  cheered  by  the 
populace  as  soon  as  he  was  recognized,  riding  there 
with  a  certain  military  grace  and  alert  manner  that 
were  characteristic  of  his  admirable  soldierly"  rep 
utation.  The  good-humored  crowds  laughed  and 
cheered  when  they  saw  in  the  rear  of  each  brigade 
of  these  two  corps  some  of  the  typical  "  Sherman's 
bummers,"  of  whose  exploits  they  had  heard  so 
much.  These  were  accompanied  by  jacks  and  mules, 
laden  with  camp  equipage  and  the  spoils  of  forag 
ing  expeditions,  and  attended  by  grinning  darkies ; 
chickens,  roosters,  goats,  dogs,  young  raccoons,  and 
camp  pets  of  various  species  were  all  mixed  in  mot 
ley  array.  The  plantation  of  Jeff  Davis  had  been 
laid  under  tribute,  and  two  small  white  jacks  of  a 
fancy  stock  were  among  the  trophies  of  one  regi 
ment. 

Between  the  armies,  as  they  marched  past,  and 


WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN'S  TIME  321 

occasionally  between  the  individual  corps,  were 
gaps  of  distance  across  which  the  sovereign  people 
on  the  outer  lines  would  run  to  gaze  upon  the  no 
tables  in  the  reviewing  stand.  Sometimes  a  great 
throng  of  people  would  collect  in  front  and  cheer 
lustily  for  Grant,  Sherman,  Howard,  or  some  other 
military  favorite,  not  omitting  President  Johnson ; 
and  each  would  rise  with  manifest  unwillingness 
to  make  his  bow  to  the  multitude.  Then  the  guards 
on  duty  would  rush  in  and  ungraciously  force  back 
the  sovereigns  in  most  admired  disorder,  a  great 
show  of  glittering  bayonets  being  made.  But,  for 
the  most  part,  the  streets  were  kept  clear  for  the 
marching  men,  and  good  order  was  preserved.  Tow 
ard  the  end  of  the  second  day's  parade,  popular 
respect  for  the  military  guards  on  duty  seemed  to 
have  abated  somewhat,  and  there  were  frequent  ir 
ruptions  of  spectators  into  the  lines,  and  civil  and 
military  confusion  most  inextricable  followed. 

Like  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  the  corps  of  the 
Army  of  the  Mississippi  had  adopted  distinctive 
badges ;  and  it  was  an  interesting  novelty  to  see  in 
Washington  some  of  the  totems  of  the  great  forces 
that  had  opened  the  navigation  of  the  Father  of 
Waters,  split  the  Confederacy  into  fragments,  and 
finally  marched  to  the  sea.  People  gazed  with  ad 
miring  curiosity  upon  the  Fifteenth's  cartridge-box, 
set  transversely  on  a  square  field,  with  the  legend, 
"Forty  rounds,"  the  Seventeenth's  arrow,  the  star  of 
the  Twentieth,  and  the  acorn  of  the  Fourteenth. 
Looking  at  these  novel  emblems  of  military  prowess 
(for  they  were  novel  to  us),  one  could  realize  how  far 
apart  had  been  the  two  great  armies  fighting  in  the 


322  WASHINGTON  IN  LINCOLN^   TIME 

defense  of  the  Union.  The  brave  men  who  bore 
these  badges  had  hewed  their  way  from  the  Missis 
sippi  to  Washington,  and  on  their  battle-flags  they 
carried  the  magical  names  of  "  Atlanta,"  "  Lookout 
Mountain,"  "  Chickamauga,"  and  a  host  of  other 
titles  that  symbolized  and  immortalized  their  valor 
and  their  successes.  They  were  still  brothers  in 
blood  with  their  comrades  in  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac,  and  with  the  dense  multitudes  that  cheered 
and  cheered  again  as  the  strangers  passed.  One 
must  needs  recall  with  grateful  heart  the  mighty 
achievements  and  the  self-denying  sacrifices  of 
these  marching  men,  whose  victories  had  so  often 
given  occasion  for  national  thanksgiving  as  the 
tide  of  victory  ebbed  and  flowed  and  the  day  of 
peace  at  last  drew  nearer  and  more  near. 

Now  on  every  pennon,  flag,  and  guidon  fluttered 
a  black  streamer ;  the  hilt  of  every  victorious  saber 
wore  a  band  of  crape.  These  were  the  tokens  of 
that  national  mourning  over  the  last  illustrious 
martyr,  whose  death  left  a  pang  of  sorrow,  even  in 
this  hour  of  jubilation,  in  every  patriot's  heart.  Nor 
could  the  thoughtful  spectator  restrain  a  sigh  for 
the  thousands  who  should  have  marched  with  these 
triumphant  cohorts,  but  who  fell,  a  sacrifice  for  the 
cause  of  the  Union  for  whose  defense  they  had  risked 
and  lost  their  lives.  They  were  not  forgotten  in  that 
hour  of  triumph — they  who  had  fallen  out  of  the 
ranks  now  marching  past,  although  they  slept  their 
last  sleep  in  the  bayous  and  marshes  of  the  South 
west  and  had  made  the  South  all  billowy  with 
graves.  One  could  almost  imagine,  as  the  glitter 
ing,  cheered,  and  cheering  columns  passed  by,  re- 


WASHINGTON   IN  LINCOLN'S   TIME  323 

dundant  with  life  and  vigor,  that  another  host, 
spectral  and  shadowy,  but  as  numerous  and  as  viv 
idly  characterized  and  marked,  moved  with  and  over 
them  with  silent  tread  in  the  viewless  air  —  two 
armies,  one  living  and  one  dead. 

The  pageant  faded.  The  men-at-arms  who  had 
spent  their  years  and  lavished  their  energies  in 
camps  or  on  fields  of  battle  went  from  the  national 
capital  to  their  own  homes,  to  take  up  once  more 
the  arts  of  peace  and  the  cares  and  joys  of  sweet 
domesticity.  In  a  few  weeks  this  army  of  two  or 
three  hundred  thousand  men  melted  back  into  the 
heart  of  the  people  from  whence  it  came,  and  the 
great  spectacle  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 
on  review  disappeared  from  sight. 


INDEX 


Amendment,  the  13th,  203  el  seq. 

Anecdotes  of  Abraham  Lincoln :  and 
the  wounded  soldier,  7 ;  and  Prof. 
Henry,  11 ;  and  Stauton  and  Eckert, 
30 ;  aud  Halleck,  35 ;  and  the  swear 
ing  teamster,  50 ;  and  the  pickanin 
nies,  56;  and  Princess  Salm-Salm, 
63;  and  John  McCullough,  actor, 
71 ;  and  the  sunburst,  74 ;  and  Nas- 
by's  letter  on  negro  enlistments, 
109;  and  Fessendeu.  129;  aud  Blair 
and  Forney,  136 ;  of  his  hearing 
news  of  his  renomiuation,  160;  and 
Tad,  217  ;  and  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  234; 
of  the  "  lame  duck,"  289. 

Anecdotes  of  Tad  Lincoln,  278  <ct  seq. 

Army  of  the  Potomac  reviewed  by 
Lincoln,  1863,  45. 

Ashley,  Representative  J.  M.,  in 
charge  of  Constitution  Amendment 
abolishing  slavery,  204. 

Assassins  of  Lincoln,  trial  of,  267; 
fate  of,  272-73. 

Agassiz,  Prof.,  calls  on  Lincoln,  304. 

Augusta,  Major,  colored  surgeon,  ex 
pelled  from  Washington  street-car, 
214. 

Bates,  Edward,  Attorney-General, 
personal  appearance,  34;  resigns 
office, 193. 

Battle  of  Fredericksburg,  39. 

Baltimore,  Republican  National  Con 
vention  in,  1864,  151-59. 

Blair,  Montgomery,  personal  appear 
ance  of,  35;  his  Rockville  speech, 
134;  altercation  with  Col.  Forney, 
135. 

Blair,  F.  P.,  Sen.,  visits  Richmond, 

223. 

Blair,  F.  P.,  Jr.,  in  Congress,  132;  at 
the  closing  military  review,  320. 

Brooks,  James,  speech  on  Lincoln's 
visit  to  Hampton  Roads,  232. 

Booth,  Edwin,  at  Ford's  Theater,  70. 

Bingham,  Representative  J.  A.,  re 
ply  to  Vallandigham,  112;  in  the 
trial  of  the  assassins  of  Lincoln, 
320. 

Butler,  B.  F.,  speech  at  celebration 
of  war  victories,  251. 


Burnside,  General  A.  E.,  the  "Mud 
March,"  44;  his  treatment  of  Val- 
laiidigharn,  114. 

Camp  Convalescent,  6;  and  Strag 
gle,  7. 

Capitol  at  Washington,  work  on,  9, 
10;  wedding  in,  74;  U.  S.  Christian 
Commission  meeting  in,  75. 

Chancellorsville,  Lincoln  hears  news 
of  retreat  after  battle  of,  57. 

Chandler,  Zachariah,  Senator,  27. 

Chase,  Secretary  of  Treasury,  his  the 
ory  concerning  executive  appoint 
ments,  116 ;  his  treatment  of  Cali 
fornia  congressmen,  117;  resigns 
office,  125 ;  nominated  for  Chief  Jus 
tice,  129-30;  supported  for  presi 
dency  by  S.  C.  Pomeroy  and  others, 
136 ;  installed  as  Chief  Justice,  190 
et  seq. 

Colored  people  in  Washington  street 
cars,  212  et  seq. 

Colfax,  Schuyler,  Representative  and 
Speaker,  personal  appearance,  21 ; 
his  resolution  to  expel  Representa 
tive  Long,  98;  his  vote  on  the  13th 
Amendment,  206. 

"  Colchester,"  a  spiritist  medium,  64. 

Conness,  John,  Senator,  facetious  re 
mark  concerning  Secretary  Welles, 
33. 

Congress,  field-days  in,  97. 

Conscription  bill,  debate  on,  105. 

Constitutional  Amendment  abolish 
ing  slavery,  203  el  seq. 

Crater,  General  Geo.  A.,  at  the  fight 
at  Falling  Waters,  Md.,  93 ;  at  the 
closing  military  review,  310. 

Dailey,  S.  C.,  Delegate  from  Nebras 
ka,  replies  to  Voorhees,  104. 

Davis,  Garrett,  Senator,  his  excited 
speeches  in  Senate,  103 ;  his  aston 
ishment  at  "  negro  impudence." 

Davis,  Representative  H.  W.,  his  re 
construction  bill  and  Wade-Davis 
manifesto,  163  et  seq. 

Denuisou,  ex-Governor,  chairman  of 
Republican  National  Convention, 
1864.  154. 


325 


326 


INDEX 


Dickinson,  Miss  Anna,  her  speeches 
in  Washington,  73. 

Dix,  Miss  Dorothea,  5. 

Dickinson,  D.  8.,  109  votes  in  Repub 
lican  National  Convention,  1864, 159. 

District  of  Columbia,  abolition  of  sla 
very  in,  198  el  seq. 

Early's  raid  on   Washington,  1864, 

173-179. 
Eckert,  General  T.  T.,  with  Lincoln 

and   Stantou,   30 ;    gives   Lincoln 

news  of  his  renomination,  160. 
Emancipation  in  Maryland,  202. 
"Evening  Post,"  of  New  York,  its 

exclusive  news,  61. 
Everett,  Edward,  and  Lincoln,  285, 

304. 

Falling  Waters,  Md.,  escape  of  rebel 
army  at,  93. 

Fessenden,  Wm.  Pitt,  Senator  and 
Secretary  of  Treasury,  26;  his  nom 
ination  to  succeed  Chase,  128. 

Fox,  Captain  G.  V.,  Assistant  Secre 
tary  of  Navy,  32 ;  H.  W.  Davis's  hos 
tility  to,  165. 

Forney,  Colonel  J.  W..  altercation 
with  Montgomery  Blair,  135 ;  news 
paper  articles  on  Hampton  Roads 
conference,  225. 

Fortifications  of  Washington,  11. 

Fredericksburg,  battle  of,  39. 

Fremont,  General  J.  C.,  nominated 
for  president,  1864, 150. 

Fugitive  Slave  Law,  last  case  under, 


Garfield,  Representative  Jas.  A.,  per 
sonal  appearance,  20 ;  on  the  lieu 
tenant-general  bill,  141;  connection 
with  the  Wade-Davis  manifesto, 
169. 

Garnett,  a  confederate  officer,  and 
Representative  Wickliffe,  13. 

Gettysburg,  battle  of,  and  after,  81- 
96;  Lincoln's  speech  at  dedication 
of  cemetery  at,  285. 

Grant,  General  U.  S.,  the  forces  that 
made  him  lieutenant-general,  139 ; 
his  first  appearance  in  Washington, 
144 ;  at  the  White  House,  146 ;  at  City 
Point,  147 ,  his  remarks  concerning 
McClellan,  147 ;  "  tight  it  out  on  this 
line,"  148 ;  votes  for,  in  the  Repub 
lican  National  Convention,  1864, 
157;  on  the  Hampton  Roads  con 
ference,  233 ;  at  Petersburg,  244 ;  at 
Lincoln's  funeral,  263 ;  at  the  clos 
ing  military  review,  310. 

Greeley,  Horace,  his  demand  for 
peace  negotiations,  243. 

Halleck,  Gen.  H.  W.,  his  personal  ap 
pearance,  35;  and  Lincoln,  36;  his 


despatches  to  Meade  after  the  bat 
tle  of  Gettysburg,  88 ;  his  unpopu 
larity,  140. 

Hall,  Andrew,  a  fugitive  slave,  197. 

Hamlin,  Vice-President  Hannibal, 
possibilities  of  his  renomination, 
151. 

Hampton  Roads,  conference  at,  223 
el  seq. ;  report  from,  to  Congress, 
228. 

Harris,  Representative  B.  G.  of 
Maryland,  effort  to  expel  from  the 
House,  100;  delegate  to  the  Demo 
cratic  National  Convention,  1864, 
181  el  seq. 

Henry,  Professor,  anecdote  of,  with 
Lincoln,  11. 

Henry,  Dr.  A.  G.,  his  relations  to  Lin 
coln  and  Victor  Smith,  121  el  seq.  ; 
Lincoln's  despatch  to,  219. 

Hospitals  in  Washington,  2 ;  in  the 
Patent  Office,  7. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  Lincoln's 
liking  for  his  poems,  79. 

Hooker,  General  Joseph,  Lincoln's 
letter  to,  on  taking  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  52 ;  after  his 
defeat  at  Chancellorsville,  56;  his 
final  exit,  60. 

Hunter,  R.  M.  T.,  with  Lincoln  at  the 
Hampton  Roads  conference,  234. 

Inauguration,  Lincoln's  second,  235 
el  seq. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  nomination  for 
vice-president,  154  el  seq.;  his  in 
auguration,  236 ;  speeches  on  acces 
sion  to  presidential  office,  274;  at 
the  funeral  of  Lincoln,  263;  at  the 
closing  military  review,  310. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  his  appearance  in 
1862,  2;  with  Stanton  and  Eckert, 
33 ;  on  threats  of  assassination,  38 ; 
reviews  Army  of  the  Potomac,  45 
el  seq.  ;  reproof  to  swearing  team 
ster,  50 ;  his  letter  to  Hooker  on  giv 
ing  him  command,  52 ;  on  the  "  pick 
aninnies,"  56;  with  Hooker,  59; 
letter  to  the  Springfield,  111.,  Con 
vention,  1863, 62 ;  his  retentive  mem 
ory,  75;  manner  toward  enlisted 
men,  77 ;  liking  for  Holines's  poems, 
79;  concerning  Wood  and  Vallan- 
digliam,  114;  anger  at  Secretary 
Chase's  California  appointments, 
118;  exasperation  over  the  Victor 
Smith  incident,  125 ;  explanation  of 
his  relations  with  Chase,  made  to 
the  Senate  Committee,  126  et  seq. ; 
nominates  Chase  to  chief -justice 
ship,  129 ,  interview  with  Blair  and 
Forney.  135;  his  renomination  de 
clared  impossible,  136 ;  his  friend- 


INDEX 


327 


ship  for  Halleck,  140;  his  opinion 
as  to  duration  of  war  in  Virginia, 
149;  on  Hamlin's  reuomination, 
151 ;  his  reuomination  in  1864,  155 ; 
how  he  received  the  news  of  his  re- 
nomination,  160;  official  notice  of 
the  same,  162 ;  his  reconstruction 
policy,  163 ;  his  views  of  the  Early 
raid,  177 ;  his  prediction  concerning 
the  Democratic  National  Conven 
tion  of  1864,  180;  cheerful  state  of 
mind  during  the  dark  days  of  1864, 
181;  his  attitude  on  Chase's  ap 
pointment  as  Chief  Justice,  191 ;  his 
remarks  on  the  same,  19C  ;  on  Mary 
land  emancipation,  203;  signs  the 
13th  Amendment  bill,  211;  de 
meanor  on  the  day  of  presidential 
election,  1864,  216;' how  he  received 
the  news*  of  the  election,  219 ;  his 
account  of  an  optical  illusion,  220; 
his  shrewdness  at  Hampton  Roads, 
223  et  seq.  ;  sends  report  of  that  con 
ference  to  Congress,  229 ;  his  second 
inauguration,  235  et  seq. ;  his  re 
marks  at  the  end  of  the  war,  252  ; 
his  speech,  April  11, 1865, 253  et  seq.  ; 
his  assassination,  257  et  seq. ;  his  fu 
neral,  261;  family  life  at  the  White 
House,  284  etseq.;  his  remarks  about 
his  Gettysburg  speech,  285;  con 
cerning  office-seekers,  287;  his 
story-telling  habit,  289;  literary 
tendencies,  294;  methods  of  liter 
ary  composition,  298;  meets  Pro 
fessor  Louis  Agassiz,  304. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary,  letter  from,  to 
author,  124. 

Lincoln,  Robert  T.,  at  his  father's 
funeral,  263;  age  on  entering  the 
White  House,  278. 

Lincoln,  "Tad,"  anecdote  of,  217;  at 
a  serenade  to  his  father,  222;  his 
life  in  the  White  House,  278  et  seq. 

Lieutenant-general  bill,  the,  141. 

Long,  Representative  Alexander,  ef 
fort  to  expel  from  the  House,  98; 
delegate  to  the  Democratic  Na 
tional  Convention,  1864,  182  et  seq. 

Marietta  raid,  the,  77. 

Maryland,  emancipation  in,  202. 

Mayuard,  Horace,  in  the  Baltimore 
Republican  Convention,  1864, 153. 

McAllister,  Representative  Archi 
bald,  vote  on  the  13th  Amendment, 
205. 

McClellan,  General  George  B.,  at  a 
military  trial,  15  ;  rumors  of  his  re 
call  to  command,  16 ;  nominated  for 
president  in  1864, 180  et  seq. 

McCullough,  John,  actor,  and  Lin 
coln,  71. 

McDowell,  Gen.  Irvin,  his  court  of 
inquiry,  15. 


Meade,  Gen.  G.  C.,  after  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg,  86;  at  the  closing 
military  review,  310. 

Missouri,  its  long  political  quarrel, 
131;  votes  in  tTie  Republican  Na 
tional  Convention,  1864, 153. 

Morris,  Thaddeus,  Speaker's  clerk 
and  page,  22. 

"  Mud  March,"  Burnside's,  44. 

Negroes,  as  soldiers,  bill  for  their  en 
listment,  107 ;  P.  V.  Nasby  on,  108 ; 
in  the  Washington  street  cars,  214. 

New  Year's  Day  in  Washington,  42. 

Office-seekers,  Lincoln's  remarks 
concerning,  287  ;  Tad  Lincoln's  ex 
perience  with,  280. 

Pendleton,  Geo.  H.,  nominated  for 
vice-president,  1864, 189. 

Pomeroy,  8.  C.,  his  "  secret  circular," 
136-167. 

Porter,  Gen.  Fitz-John,  court-mar 
tial,  14. 

Presidential  election  of  1864,  216  et 
seq. 

Ratification  of  13th  Amendment  by 
States,  209. 

Reconstruction,  Lincoln's  policy  of, 
162. 

Richmond,  capture  of,  144. 

Sanitary  Commission,  U.  S.,  opera 
tions  of,  5. 

Salm-Salm,  Princess,  68. 

Schqfield,  General  J.  M. ,  incurs  hos 
tility  of  Missouri  radicals,  133. 

Secessionists  in  Georgetown  in  1864, 
176. 

Seymour,  Thos.  H.,  43  votes  for  presi 
dential  nomination  in  Democratic 
National  Convention  of  1864, 187. 

Seymour,  Horatio,  chairman  Dem 
ocratic  National  Convention  of 
1864,  183  et  seq. 

Seward,  W.  H.,  Secretary  of  State, 
personal  appearance,  27  ;  at  the 
U.  S.  Christian  Commission  meet 
ing,  75 ;  speech  after  the  presiden 
tial  election  of  1864,  223 ;  visits 
Hampton  Roads,  224 ;  on  the  fall  of 
Richmond,  247. 

Sherman,  General  W.  T.,  sends  the 
news  of  fall  of  Vicksburg  to  Lin 
coln,  190 ;  at  the  closing  military  re 
view,  310  et  seq. 

Sheridan,  not  present  at  the  closing 
military  review,  315. 

Slavery,  abolition  of,  197  et  seq. 

Smith,  Victor,  Chase's  friendship 
for,  119;  removal  from  office,  121; 
his  tragic  death,  123;  Lincoln's 
anger  over  Chase's  treatment  of, 
125. 


328 


INDEX 


Speed,  James,  nomination  for  attor 
ney-general,  193 ;  at  the  closing 
military  review,  310. 

Springfield,  111.,  Lincoln's  letter  to 
Republican  Convention  in,  G2. 

Stanton,  personal  appearance,  28; 
with  Lincoln  and  Eckert,  30 ;  speech 
on  the  fall  of  Richmond,  245  ;  at  the 
closing  military  review,  310,  313  ct 
seq. 

Stevens,  Representative  Thaddeus, 
personal  appearance,  17. 

Suniner,  Charles,  Senator,  personal 
appearance,  23 ;  his  opposition  to 
Lincoln's  reconstruction  policy, 
163 ;  on  the  government  of  Vir 
ginia,  249. 

Surratt,  Mrs.,  273. 

Territorial  Delegates  in  Congress, 
record  of,  on  the  13th  Amendment, 
208. 

Theater,  Ford's,  Lincoln  sees  Edwin 
Booth  in,  70. 

Theater-going,  Lincoln's,  71. 

Tilden,  S.  J.,  in  the  Democratic  Na 
tional  Convention,  1864,  184. 

Tod,  David,  nominated  for  secretary 
of  Treasury,  126. 

Trurnbull,  Senator  Lyman,  resolution 
as  to  President's  signature  to  any 
constitutional  amendment,  211. 

Trial  of  the  assassins  of  Lincoln,  267 
el  seq. 

Usher,  J.  P.,  Secretary  of  Interior,  35. 

U.  S.  Sanitary  Commission,  opera 
tions  of,  5. 

U.  S.  Christian  Commission,  meeting 
for,  in  the  Capitol,  75. 

Vallandigham,  Representative  C.  L., 
personal  appearance  of,  18 ;  replies 
to  Representative  Campbell  of 
Penn.,  105  ;  defines  his  position,  111; 
his  deportation  beyond  the  lines, 
and  return,  114  et  seq. ;  in  Demo 
cratic  National  Convention,  1864, 
183  et  seq. 


Vicksburg,  fall  of,  81. 

Virginia,  dismemberment  of,  110. 

Voorhees,  Representative  D.  W.,  op 
poses  bill  to  indemnify  Federal  ex 
ecutive  officers,  104. 

Wade,  Senator  B.  F.,  personal  ap 
pearance,  25;  his  connection  with 
the  Wade-Davis  reconstruction  bill 
and  manifesto,  163-171;  at  Chase's 
inauguration,  196 ;  debate  with 
Senator  Doolittle,  227. 

Washburne,  Representative  E.  B., 
his  resolution  to  expel  Represent 
ative  Alexander  Long,  100 ;  his  bill 
to  revive  the  rank  of  lieutenant- 
general,  141  et  seq. 

Washington,  its  camps,  hospitals,  and 
soldiers,  2  et  seq. ;  fortifications  of, 
11 ;  New  Year's  Day  in,  41 ;  rejoic 
ings  in,  at  end  of  war,  244, 250;  grand 
military  review  in,  at  close  of  war, 
307  et  seq. 

Welles,  Gideon,  Secretary  of  Navy, 
personal  appearance,  33;  at  the 
closing  military  review,  310. 

West  Virginia,  bill  to  admit  as  State, 
110. 

Wilson,  Senator  Henry,  personal  ap 
pearance,  23 ;  his  motion  to  expel 
Garrett  Davis,  103 ;  his  bill  to  abol 
ish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  198  et  seq. 

Wickliffe,  Representative  Charles  A., 
in  the  Democratic  National  Con 
vention,  1864,  188. 

Wilkinson,  Senator  M.  S.,  reply  to  Se 
nator  Pomeroy,  138. 

White  House,  receptions  in,  42,  67 ; 
life  in,  during  Lincoln's  term,  284  et 
seq. 

Wright,  J.  A.,  Senator,  from  Indiana. 

Wright,  Representative  H.  B  ,  of 
Penn.,  reply  to  Vallaudigham,  113. 

Wood,  Representative  Fernando,  his 
personal  appearance,  19 ;  interview 
with  Lincoln  as  to  Vallandigham's 
return,  114;  his  remarks  on  Lin 
coln's  visit  to  Hampton  Roads,  228. 


""'• 


14  DAY  USE 

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